Frugal Friday Link Up--9/21/12

The state fair is over and we made it through. My daughter has bought some sensible things with some of her earnings--such as clothing and accessories. Now she just needs to clean out her closet and such of clothes she's not worn in ages.
She also bought some not so sensible items---3 Hermit Crabs and their accessories. She's wanted the for years though, so spending the money she earned is good for her.

I'm working on de-cluttering both in the house and in the garage. I'm currently posting things up for sale on our local facebook group for selling. I'm hoping to make some extra money along with some extra space.

This week I am sharing 4 uses for emery boards from the 99 Cent Solutions book:

1. Erase the eraser. Rub away smudges and scuffs on your pencil eraser with an emery board. Lightly rub it over the eraser until the marks are gone.

2. File seeds before planting. Rub off the hard coating on seeds using an emery board before you put them in to the ground. They will absorb moisture better and get a head start sprouting.

3. Steam away stains on suede. Rub the stain on those suede shoes, or your suede jacket by rubbing it gently with the fine side of an emery board. Hold the suede item over steam from a pan. The stain will disappear. Use the emery board again to freshen the nap.

4. Get to the point. Knives get dull, scissors get dull, even needles get dull. Make your needle sharp again by rubbing it against an emery board.


Now it's your turn to share the great posts you have shared on your own blog over this past week. I really do enjoy reading them and being inspired to keep doing my best to be frugal and lead a simple life.

Frugal Friday Link-Up--More Uses for Vinegar

First I want to apologize for missing last Friday.  I overslept so it was out of bed and on the run the entire day!  Today isn't much better.  What happened to my free Friday's?  Oh yeah, for one thing I took the merchandising job and Friday is one of my work days.

I am continuing with the many uses of vinegar from the 99 Cent Solutions book.  Vinegar is one of the most versatile and useful, as well as cheap things on the market.

1.  Keep Your Flowers fresh.  Keep those blooms a-bloom for as long as possible by adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the vase, then fill it with water from the tap.

2.  Shiny scissors.  Water might rust those scissors, so instead, dip a cloth in white vinegar and wipe the blades well.  Dry with a towel.

3.  Keep water bottles fresh.  Adding a few drops of apple cider vinegar to your bottled water when you are out hiking and such will keep the flavor bright and the bacteria down.

4.  Keep cats out of the sandbox.  Drizzle a pint of white vinegar over the sand and stir it in with a spade.  It will dry overnight, but cats will avoid the place for weeks. (We need to try this!)

5.  Skip chips---on your nails that is.  Paint your clean bare nails with white vinegar and let it dry.  When you apply the polish, it will stay on without chipping for days longer.  (I need to try this!)

6.  Clean dirt off the blinds.  Nobody likes cleaning the window blinds.  Now and then the grime and dust is just too much and you have to give it a go.  Use socks and vinegar.  Mix half water and half vinegar.  Put a clean cotton tube sock on each hand.  Dip the socks in the vinegar mixture and pull your hands along each blind.  The dirt will slip right off.  Dip them in clean water to rinse the dirt off, then back in the vinegar mixture for the next slat.

7.  Avoid oven odors.    Soak a clean sponge in white vinegar and use it for the final wipe-down after you have finished cleaning the oven.  Let the vinegar dry completely before turning the oven on again.  This will eliminate the strong chemical smell the next time you use the oven after using a chemical cleaner.

8.  Fluff sweaters after washing.  Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the final rinse water whether hand washing or machine washing.  Your wool and acrylic sweaters will not be flat and dull.

9.  Clear the air of grease.  Put a small dish of white vinegar in the kitchen and grease will miraculously collect on the surface rather than hanging in the air.  Try it and see the next time you are frying chicken.

What posts have you done over the past week to include in this week's linky?

 

Frugal Friday Link Up--Living Below the Line $1.50 a Day Challenge

I want to continue this week talking about the Living Below the Line challenge I am taking part in.
I am taking part in this as a bzz campaign with bzzagent.com.

 I've ran across a lot of "nay-sayers" this past week.  Not only in comments on my own postings about what I am eating, but the postings of others as well.

We are hearing things like--3rd world countries are eating beans and rice
Most don't have access to grocery stores, let alone sales and the use of coupons
The usual people commenting on losing weight, not getting near enough to eat, nutrition isn't good.
One person really got in to it commenting that this challenge isn't teaching anyone anything (and she is taking part in the challenge)  I can't go in to details on her comments without quoting her, which I do not have permission to do.

Others are very supportive telling us we are doing a great job.  

Here are my posts on gather if you would like to read about my journey and what I have eaten.  I will come back and link up the post I do tonight once I get it done.

Live Below the Line Challenge--I'm In, Are You Up To It? (bzz campaign)


Living Below the Line $1.50 a Day Challenge Day 1

Living Below the Line $1.50 a Day Challenge Day 2 

Living Below the Line $1.50 a Day Challenge Day 3 

Living Below the Line $1.50 a Day Challenge Day 4 

Living Below the Line $1.50 a Day Challenge Day 5


I am supporting the Global Poverty Project and you can find my page here: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/marsha32
So far I've not helped by raising any money  :(   I do hope that my postings have at least opened the eyes of some.

My husband and I have had a hard time keeping food in the house....or so we thought until this challenge.  In other words, we always have food, it's just not what we are hungry for, so we moan and groan about it.
Even though my husband and daughter didn't take part in the challenge with me, they have watched me and been supportive.

It takes a lot of time and effort to take what something costs, divide it out by ounces or servings and know a cost.  Take the Kool-Aid for example.  Now, I say Kool-Aid, but I am using the store brand.  I had to add the packet cost in with the cost of the sugar.  The sugar was on the package as servings by the teaspoon.  Boy wasn't that figuring fun  LOL
On that note, I would also like to add that I was asked if I was adding in the cost of the water for my tea and Kool-Aid.  The answer is no.  I would have no way of knowing what we pay the water company for each cup of water!

I posted about the challenge here in my Frugal Friday post last week.  I talked about how milk was on sale for $2 a gallon.  What a blessing that we stocked up somewhat so I could drink more of it.   Double blessings came Friday evening when my hubby called me from the store.  He was so excited to find half gallons of milk on a manager's special for just .50 each!!  He brought home 6 to make sure I had enough for the challenge.  This extra special price did afford me the luxury of a glass of milk with supper most nights too.

Also, eggs were on sale for $1 a dozen so he bought 2 dozen to make sure I had enough.  And, they had the 1 pound packages of potato salad and macaroni salad on sale for just $1.  He went a little overboard on those buying 5 packages of each!  We have some left for our Mother's Day dinner.

Could I have accomplished this challenge without using sale prices and coupons?  Probably so, but I would have been suffering through eating Ramen noodles every day.  I barely got myself to eat one package this week, half at a time.  I would have had very little else during the day.  

I want to mention that in our house we have a lot of food that didn't cost us anything.  I could have well used any of those foods and eaten 3 or 4 times more than what I did.  These are foods such as beans, rice, pasta, canned soup, etc that over time I have gotten from government commodities.   I also had made a trip to the local food bank recently and we still had some of that food left. (yeah, we had no meat whatsoever so I went to the food bank---of course the income tax refund came in the very next day.....and we did a shopping whopping stock up trip to Aldi)   I felt a little on the bad side using sale prices and coupons and didn't want to try to throw in things that I got free on top of those.   I shouldn't feel bad though!  If it weren't for sales and coupons we wouldn't eat near as much or as well as we do.

On that note, I would like to mention just yesterday, what a blessing of food we had!!  In the mail I rec'd 2 free coupons for any Gorton's seafood items.  I won those in a blog giveaway.  (I used one this morning for a 30 count bag of crunchy fish fillets that cost $10.97!) Later in the day the Fed Ex truck stopped with a package for me.  Inside I found a box of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal from PurexInsiders.  Along with that came 5 free coupons for more boxes.  I will be using one of those for us and giving the other 4 away here on my blog.
I was accepted at crowdtap for the McCormick Grill Mates party and will be receiving a box of marinades, bbq sauce etc.  I am signed up with bzzagent for the campaign on pork and will be receiving coupons to buy pork.  I just signed up for another bzzagent campaign for Private Selections.  With it we will get free coupons to get a bag of chips, a box of Angus Burgers, a pie, and ice cream.  (there's one whole meal totally taken care of!)    Am I counting my blessings?  YES!!

I think I have rambled enough here to call it a book, so will close for now.   I hope I have enlightened some on what it's like to try to eat on so little....as well as the blessings.   Please link up anything frugal you have to share in the linky this week.  I've not had much participation with the linky but would love to see it start to grow.  Inspire us all to live the simple and frugal life.

Disclosure:  I received a product sample, coupon, collateral or other special premium from BzzAgent. 

Frugal Friday's With Marsha Link Up---It's Been a Great Week

It's been a great week at our house as far as being frugal goes.

1. I've been hanging the laundry out on the line to dry all week. It feels good to be doing so again. I know with the mild winter that we had, there were lots of days I should have hung the clothes out then as well.

2. We grocery shopped at Aldi. I don't go to Aldi near often enough. A cart full of food and things was $127, but by looking at the overflowing cart, I really expected it to be over $200. It feels so nice to have this much food in the house again.

3. I did some coupon shopping at the grocery store. No, I don't save like they do on tv, but I had $25 to spend and I spent $24.85. I saved 60% with sales and coupons. Some of my better deals was: 3 packages of Reames frozen noodles for $2 after coupons, Hostess Donettes $1 after coupon, Purex detergent used a free coupon, 2 Barilla whole wheat pastas .38 after coupons, and Jello geletin 2 boxes for .36 after coupon.

4. We've really been paying attention to turn off lights in rooms we are in.

5. We planted the garden. We put in a raspberry vine, grape vine, purple onions, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and basil. There was spinach and garlic already growing from last year. Wish us the best that we get a nice harvest this year. We did buy a huge bag of Miracle Grow Moisture Plus to add around since the soil out there is horrible for growing anything but weeds and stickers. ($5 rebate on the Miracle Grow sent in too!) I also started another compost pile. It didn't work last year and I don't know why, but I'm trying it again.

6. I picked up a couple of things through freecycle--Christmas card fronts to use in making my bags and things and some fabric and lace.

I do hope you will share in comment, or by sharing a blog post in the linky, how your frugal week has gone.


On to my sharing this week from the 99 Cent Solutions book. This week it's 4 uses for vanilla.

1. Sweeten a microwave. Pour a couple of tablespoons of vanilla into a glass bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let the vanilla cool and repeat. It will smell as sweet as fresh baked cookies instead of all those dinners you've cooked in there.

2. Perfume the paint. Stir 1 tablespoon of vanilla into a gallon of paint before you start work. It won't completely get rid of the fresh paint smell but will make it a whole lot more pleasurable.

3. Make a kid-friendly tick repellent. Douse a cotton ball with real vanilla extract and dab it liberally on the ankles, wrists and any uncovered skin. Reapply as needed. This will keep your little ones from getting ticks if playing in long grass.

4. Sweeten the house. Dab a cotton ball with vanilla and dab it very lightly on the outside of light bulbs (not halogen bulbs) in your lamps. When turned on the vanilla heats up and a faint but alluring scent of vanilla drifts out. This is great for those who are allergic to air freshners and sprays but still want their home to smell nice.

(I love the scent of vanilla!)

Frugal Friday Link Up--Earth Day is April 22

With Earth Day right around the corner there is information all over the internet (and tv and magazines etc) on ways to save the earth.

Recently our city started taking part in the recycling for points with recyclebank.com.  I've been a member of recyclebank for some time, earning points for taking quizzes, watching videos, making pledges etc.   I've really learned about a lot of things that are recyclable that I didn't know about!
I am even taking plastic bags to the grocery store for recycling.  I've seen the cans there but never put any thought in to it.   I do use some plastic grocery bags to crochet with, as well as use them for trash bags in the smaller trash cans.  I hadn't, however, thought about the bread bags, newspaper bags, and others.  These are all being sent for recycling through the grocery store.

I've been feeling a lot better about our recycling efforts.

Another thing is what I am learning by sharing things from the 99 Cent Solutions book.  It's been enlightening to know the everyday items that can be used for so many things.  No need to go buy something special, and mostly no need for the unneeded chemicals!

This week I am sharing 3 uses for Tomato Juice from the 99 Cent Solutions book:

1.  Freshen a fridge.  Use undiluted tomato juice on a sponge to wipe down the shelves and walls in your fridge.  Rinse with a warm rag.  If the odor was bad, maybe due to a power outage, you will need to repeat once more.

2.  Clean a cooler.   Pour in a large can of undiluted tomato juice into the cooler and rub it up the sides of the interior and the lid with a sponge.  Close the lid and let it sit for a couple of days in a cool place.  Rinse, wash with dish soap and water and dry.  For an extra added measure, sprinkle a little baking soda in it before you put it into storage.

3.  Soothe a sore throat.  The acids in tomato juice take the sting out of a sore throat.  Use 1/2 cup tomato juice and 1/2 cup of water, and add a couple drops of hot sauce.  Gargle with this mixture several times and the burning will subside. 


 
 

Frugal Friday Link Up--8 Uses for Tea

Happy Friday! Not really anything personally for me to report on frugality this week. I should be working on coupons but I haven't been. I need to start reading coupon savings blogs and get inspired!
It's that time of year that I can start hanging the clothes on the line but I keep forgetting :( I must start doing that to save on the electric bill.
Hubby and I must sit and make out a budget. I had to visit the food bank this week to get us through until next Friday's payday because there was nothing left after bills.....and won't be this week either. (sigh)

But...on to this week's share from the 99 Cent Solutions book. This week it's 8 uses for tea.

1. Keep the fridge fresh. Did you know that tea bags do a better job of keeping odors down better than baking soda? Put 3 or 4 tea bags around the fridge and odors will be readily absorbed. Change them out ever few weeks.

2. Use tea in your smoker. Open a few tea bags and sprinkle the tea leaves over the soaked wood chips. The tea will give your food a distinctive, unique flavor.

3. Help heal pink eye. Make a tea bag compress by wetting the tea bag, squeezing out the excess. Have the child lie still with the tea bag on the eyelid for 10 minutes. The tannin helps the swelling go right down. (One grandchild sent home from school yesterday with pink eye. I'm going to have to tell my daughter to try this.)

4. Brighten dark hair. Pour a quart of warm dark tea through your hair after a mild shampoo and make your hair feel soft again. Summer sun and chlorine makes your hair rough and dry. This will do the trick.

5. Freshen your feet. Each night soak your feet in a basin of strong tea for 20 minutes. After a week or 2 you should notice a real difference in both the sweat and odor output of your feet.

6. Clean delicate oriental rugs. Empty the contents of 6 tea bags in to a bowl and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of water over this. Sprinkle the barely damp tea leaves on the rug and ten brush them off vigorously with a clean broom. the tea leaves will draw out dust and dirt without leaving any stain or color on the rug.

7. Feed your roses. Rosebushes love the tannins in the tea leaves, so if you are a regular tea drinker, keep your tea leaves in a compost bowl by your kitchen sink. Dump them around the rose bushes once a week.

8. Speed up compost. If your compost pile is not composting, pour a few cups of strong brewed tea on it. The acid in the tea will jump-start the compost, encouraging the acid-loving bacteria that makes the whole thing work. (oh how I wish I had known about this last year--I would have actually had some compost for a garden this year!)

Frugal Friday Link Up--3 Uses for Spam

Welcome to Friday. I really slept in today. I'm sure it's because my body really needed the rest...maybe my mind too!

I've had lots of thoughts on saving money this past week. Basic things such as not having excess lights on in the house, getting my coupons in order, using up leftovers for meals. Paying the bills today is top priority and then forcing my husband to take a realistic view of a budget and making him understand that just because there is some money in the bank, doesn't mean that he can spend it. Does anyone else have this problem with their hubby?

Today's share from the 99 cent solutions book is 3 uses for Spam---yes, Spam!

1. Polish wood furniture. Cut off a chunk of Spam, wipe it across your wood tabletop, and polish it off with a soft cloth. Spam has no harmful chemicals and no silicone that will build up like many furniture polishes have.

2. De-mist mirrors. Wipe a chunk of Spam across a mirror and wipe it off with a soft cloth. The light coatung of oil it will leave behind is invisible, and your mirror won't steam up for weeks!

3. Catch fish. A chunk of Spam is what catfish or carp fishermen will tell you to use. Take 2 cans on your next fishing trip--one for the fish, and one for you.

The book also shares 2 pages on the history of Spam.

Who would have thought of some of the things I see in this book. I need opinions please. Would you like me to continue through the book as I am, or would it be better if I read through the book and just note things that I really think are good? At the rate I am going, it will be 2 years from now before I share everything in the book the way I am doing it. That's ok, as I do plan to still be here 2 years from now ;)

Would you like to buy your own copy?


Now it's your turn to link up!

Frugal Friday Link-Up--6 Uses for Soda and Cola

Pin ItWhew! Another whirlwind week around our house!

This week I want to share 6 used for soda and cola from the 99 Cent Solutions book:

1. Take rust off of chrome. Crush a piece of aluminum foil and dip it in cola, then scrub off those little dots of rust with ease.

2. Speed up a drain. Slowly pouring a whole 2 ltr. bottle of cola down the drain every once in awhile will help to prevent any clogs that may be forming. It's the potent carbonic acid in the cola that will keep your pipes free and clear.

3. Clean battery corrosion. Dip a rag in cola and wrap it around the battery terminals. Let it sit for several minutes and then scrub off any rust deposits and any cola residue with a damp sponge. The same trick works to loosen rusted-on nuts and bolts.

4. Restore stained porcelain. Pour in 1 1/2 cups of soda and let it sit for an hour. Scrub and flush. Your toilet will be good as new.

5. Get oil off of concrete. Sprinkle the oil spot liberally with sawdust or cat litter, working it in with a broom. Leave for half an hour to soak p the grease. Sweep this up and throw away. Pour enough cola to cover the area and work it in with a rag. Let this sit for half an hour. Mop it up with 2 tbsp. each of laundry detergent and bleach mixed with 2 quarts of warm water. (I've heard of using kitty litter, but sure didn't know about all the other steps that will completely clean the oil off the drive or garage floor.)

6. Keep flowers fresh longer. When putting flowers in a vase, add 1/2 cup of a clear soda, such as Sprite or 7-Up, to the water. The flowers will live for days longer than they would have with just plain water.

Have you post some good frugal tips, shopping trips, recipes, etc this past week? If so, please link them up. Inspriration to save is great for everyone.

Frugal Friday Link Up--5 Uses for Shortening

Pin It
Here we are to another Friday. It's been a good week for being frugal.
I am excited that recyclebank is now "live" in my town. Not only can I earn points for our recycling, but it's increased our recycling. I was lazy on some things, not rinsing cans and such and just throwing them in the trash. Not any more...if it's recyclable it's going in to the cart. I hadn't thought much about plastic bag recycling since they can't be put in to the cart. I read over on the recyclebank website about recycling plastic bags in a bin at the grocery store. Ever since reading that, all plastic bags are now going to the store.
I'm feeling much better about our recycling efforts.

Today I am sharing 5 uses for shortening from the 99 Cent Solutions book:

1. Make a magic snow shovel. Before heading out to shovel the snow, smear a generous amount of solid vegetable shortening on your snow shovel. The snow will slide right off much more quickly.

2. Restore a pair of galoshes. Bring back the shine to your child's galoshes by polishing them with a dab of shortening on a clean rag.

3. Soften your feet. Save yourself more than a few bucks by softening your feet with shortening instead of the fancy foot creams. Shortening contains pretty much the same active ingredient at the fancy foot creams: fat or grease. Before bed, slather it on your soles and put on socks. In the morning you will have satiny soft tootsies.

4. Remove tar from fabric. Scrape off what you can with the edge of a credit card and then work shortening directly in to the stain. Let it sit overnight, then dab up the excess with a paper towel and treat the whole area with a grease remover. Launder as usual.

5. Tell the squirrels to take a hike. Is your bird feeder being raided by the squirrels? Grease the pole of the feeder liberally with shortening. Squirrels won't be able to climb the pole and will soon go find their food elsewhere, leaving the birds to eat in peace.


I hope you are enjoying these tidbits each week. I am loving this book, and I've learned several great tips along with my sharing here on my blog.

Now it's time for you to link up a blog post, or posts. Share those frugal tips and more with us. Thanks!

Frugal Friday Link-Up--Nine Uses for Salt

Good Friday Morning to all!
It's been one busy week and doesn't look like my days are going to change any time soon.  :(
My daughter was married this past Wednesday on February 29.  It was a pretty frugal wedding as far as weddings go...although in my book they spent a fortune.  It's ok though, my daughter wanted what would be her dream wedding.

Today I am sharing 9 uses for salt from the 99 Cent Solutions book:

1.  Salvage a pan--  Salt will bring your pan back into service from the baked-on or burned food.  Sprinkle salt heavily on the stuck-on food and dampen it with a little water.  Let it sit until the food lifts right off the pan, then wash.

2.  Clean up a bubble-over--  Sprinkle salt thickly on the spill inside your oven while it's still liquid.  This also works for messy boil-overs on the stove top.  When the salted area cools, wipe it right away with a sponge.

3.  Get dishwasher stains off glassware--  Spots on your glasses, Pyrex, mixing bowls, etc can be very stubborn, but they are no match for salt.  Mix one cup salt and 1 quart of vinegar and soak the glassware overnight.  Rub it off and wash as usual. 

4.  Clean fish easily--  Sprinkle salt on that freshly caught fish before you descale it.  The scales will flick off faster.

5.  Polish your griddle--  Pour a few tablespoons of salt on the cold clean griddle and polish firmly with a paper towel.  Discard and wipe before heating.  The freshly polished surface will prevent your pancakes from sticking. (Does anyone know if this will work on a non-stick griddle  Hubby used Pam on our griddle and now the surface is sticky.)

6.  Chase cabbage worms away--  Mix 1 part salt and 2 parts flour and dust it around the cabbages every few days as harvest approaches.  This will stop the cabbage worms in their tracks.

7.  Whip cream higher--  Add just a tiny pinch of salt to a bowl of whipping cream to make it whip higher and fluffier.  Do the same with egg whits and with eggs you are whisking for scrambled eggs.  They will be fluffier.

8.  Stop a sudsy disaster--  If your child likes to help you with the dishes or laundry and puts in too much soap (or if you accidentally do this yourself) just sprinkle salt on the emerging bubbles and and they will subside quickly and clean up fast.

9.  Kill poison ivy--  Dissolve 3 pounds of sidewalk salt in a gallon of water and add a squirt of dish liquid.  Saturate the plant and it's roots.  It will soon be gone.


I hope to see lots of link-ups this week.  Motivate me and others!

 

Frugal Friday Link-Up--Uses for Popcorn and Potato Chips

Today I am going to share 3 uses for popcorn and 4 uses for potato chips. I am sharing from the 99 Cent Solutions book.

Popcorn:
1. Pad a package. Popcorn isn't a recommended replacement for foam peanuts, but it does work for domestic shipping. Wrap the object you are shipping, place a layer of air popped popcorn on the bottom of the box, put in the item you are shipping, then fill the box the rest of the way with more popcorn. Popcorn is economical and a great shock absorber. (Let's just hope the person you are shipping too doesn't decide to eat it.

2. Decorate a tree. Remember the good old days of making popcorn strings to decorate the tree with at grandma's house? I know I do! We still make it a family tradition here when we can.

3. Make a squirrel UN-friendly bird feeder. Make a couple of loops of strung popcorn and hang them for the birds. They are great for the birds to perch on and have a snack, but too light for squirrels to climb.


Potato chips:
1. Top a casserole. Use potato chip crumbs in place of bread crumbs to top your casserole dish. I actually do save the bottom crumbs of the potato chip bags in my freezer, just for this purpose. A family favorite to have the chips on top of the casserole.

2. Give fried foods a crispy crunch. Again, in place of bread crumbs, use finely crushed potato chips instead, and fry as usual. You won't need to add any salt. Yum!

3. Make a sandwich. In the British Isles it's well known to have salt and vinegar chips between 2 pieces of buttered bread for a sandwich. Well.....we do often put potato chips, or Doritos inside our sandwiches but never just chips. They say it's strangely addictive.

4. Bake some cookies. Using your favorite butter cookie recipe, or the standard recipe for chocolate chip cookies, use crushed, salted potato chips instead of chocolate. If you love a mix of sweet and salty in your snack foods, you'll never look back! (I should give this a try for sure)


I do hope you find some of these tips and suggestions helpful each week. Link up any frugal posts you've done over the past week--or posts you do between now and next Friday when the linky closes, please.

Frugal Friday Link Up--4 Uses for Cayenne Pepper

Happy Friday! My husband's been on vacation this week. Have we been frugal? Yes, and no. We have been doing our usual things--making due for lunch, making sure lights are off in rooms we aren't in etc. We rec'd our state tax refund check in the mail and did some grocery shopping. We didn't look at what was on sale though and just picked things up. We didn't do bad or anything and spent a total of about $60 between the grocery store and the day old bread store.
We also picked up a pre-paid card for my daughters spending money on her trip to England next year.

We are planning on being out of town all day today visiting my daughter and her family. We had intended on getting a motel for the night to visit longer, but there just wasn't enough money left to do that. Maybe next time :) We are already working on a savings plan for his next vacation week in August.

For this week I am sharing 4 uses for cayenne pepper from the 99 Cent Solutions book.

1. Relieve arthritis in your hands. 1 tablespoon neutral oil (almond or olive oil) mixed with 2 drops of lavender essential oil and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or 2 drops pepper essential oil) mixed together and rubbed gently on your joints makes a warming massage oil that will loosen up those joints in the morning. (admittedly this is probably great but I would really have to check the price of all the ingredients compared to buying Icy Hot, Ben Gay, or the like on sale and with a coupon)

2. Fight off a migraine. If you feel a migraine coming on, mix 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper into half a glass of tepid water. Mix it and drink it down. Lie down to rest. If you still feel the pain, repeat again in 30 minutes. (hhmmm not sure I would want to try this either!)

3. Break the grip of a cold. Heat some chicken stock to boiling and lace it with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Less, depending on how much you can bear. Drink it from a mug and be sure to sniff the vapors while you sip. Cayenne breaks up congestion swiftly.

4. Deter deer and groundhogs. Mix 1/4 cup cayenne with warm water in a spray bottle and mist it over the plants that the deer seem to be zeroing in on. If you find the hold in your yard where that pesky groundhog hides in between eating your flowers, pour a liberal amount of cayenne down the hole. There is usually a second hole too, that you should find and anoint. Groundhogs should make haste to find other habitation plans. (OMG! I wish I read this before now--the gophers are tearing up our entire yard, and my flower beds. I MUST give this a try!)

Until next week--keep on saving! Please link up below. Also don't forget my Homemade 2012 linky page as well. Thanks!

Frugal Friday Link-Up---4 Uses for Peanut Butter

Happy Frugal Friday! I'm getting a slow start on my day, at least getting to the computer.

It's been another busy week here. I can't think of anything really frugal that I did this week. I do always try to live a frugal lifestyle. The only shopping I did this past week was to buy gifts for my daughter to give her boyfriend----she picked them out of course, I just told her how much I had to spend. Saddest part---we got home from Wal Mart and I found a gift card for about the same amount I spent sitting in our mailbox. I earned it doing a survey for our local newspaper. Oh well, that will pay for some things the next time we get out there.

I am still working from my stash of craft supplies only. I have so many things that I want to get done! Getting started on some Christmas gifts is a must!

This week I am sharing 4 uses for peanut butter from the 99 Cent Solutions book:

1. Help your pet take their medicine. Push the pill into the center of a teaspoon of peanut butter. This prevents them from finding it if you put it in their regular food and then not taking it. Just give them the little lump of peanut butter like a treat.

2. Catch that mouse! Mice actually prefer peanut butter over cheese. It won't harden and dry up like a piece of cheese either. (My mom has been using peanut butter on her mousetraps for years!)

3. Take off a price tag. Rub a dab of peanut butter on the price sticker and let it sit for a few minutes. It will wipe away easily with a paper towel or other rag. This also removes all the remains of the glue.

4. Take out the odor of fried fish. Add a dollop of smooth peanut butter to the oil before you fry fish. It will absorb the smell while you enjoy the fish frying for dinner. And, you won't have to keep smelling it days later.

Frugal Friday Link Up--Three Uses for Olive Oil

Good Friday to all! It's been a super super busy week for me away from home and today is no different. Not that I mind being busy, but not much is getting done around the house, or on the computer (or so it seems).

I was able to do a bit more coupon shopping this week...just a little bit. I did the Mega event at the grocery store just one time plus bought milk--which sadly was not on sale this week. I was able to combine a free coupons for Triscuits in with the mega event and a .50 off I Can't Believe It's not Butter coupon in with the deal. Otherwise I did buy cottage cheese because we haven't had any in ages, and then 7 of the Velveeta cups for just .49 each. I also used 3 of the $2 off Private Selections coupons because they were about to expire. I picked up 3 of the Apple Crisp packages for just .99 each after coupon. In all I saved $14.75 on the 14 items that I purchased. (I'm still in the process of getting caught up on organizing coupons, working a little each day.)
For more food this past week, we were able to buy 20 bierocks from church for .50 each. Also, my husband got a great deal on whole chickens from one of the little markets he services. They sold them to him for just .69 a lb! He came home with 2 large whole chickens for $4.69. We still had meat from the week before.
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Today, from the 99 Cent Solutions book, I am sharing 3 uses for olive oil.

1. Polish for finished wood surfaces. Instead of using furniture sprays and polishes, which are nothing but silicone, use olive oil. The sprays and polishes leave a quick shine, but over time they build up a sticky dullness. Simple wipe on a dab of pure olive oil with a soft cloth, then buff to shine.

2. Recondition your baseball mitt. Bring back softness and shine to that old baseball mitt by pouring oil on a rag and then working it into the glove well. Rub it into the cracks and crevices. Use a clean rag to buff off any excess.

3. Repair damaged hair. Wash your hair and rinse with warm water. Heat 1/2 cup of olive oil in a cup in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Massage it all through your hair and cover with an old shower cap or warp your hair with a sheet of plastic wrap. Cover with a towel and wear it for 30 minutes. Shampoo and rinse well, and your hair will feel thick and silky. This will help repair too much sun, chemicals, blow drying, and curling iron dryness and brittleness.
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Link up your frugal tips, recipes, and savings trips to keep me motivated!

Frugal Friday Link Up--4 Uses for Oatmeal

Happy Friday! Sorry my post is so late--I was having a good dream about my dream house and didn't want to wake up LOL Then, I am having some computer issues that I have yet to figure out how to cure. I am giving Google Chrome a try but I'm not liking it.

This past week has flown by. I've had some exciting happenings that deal with my blog and products I will be getting in for review/and or giveaway and some of those things have come in.

Recyclebank is finally coming to my town as far as them weighing what we recycle and earning points. I'm excited. I had been lax in getting everyting recyclable to the cart. Lazy is the word for it. Since starting to put everything recyclable in the cart, we are only taking out the kitchen trash once a week! So, other than when I change litter boxes, our trash cart is staying pretty empty.
While over at the recyclebank website I watched the stream line recycling video. I knew the plastic bag recycle bin was in the grocery stores but never put any thought in to it. Now I am making sure to recycle our newspaper bags, clean zipper bags, bread bags, etc, throwing them into the bin each time I am at the store.

I'm feeling really good about our recycling efforts.

This week, from the 99 Cent Solutions book, I am sharing 4 uses for oatmeal:

1. Tighten your pores. Grind 1/4 cup of oatmeal to a fine powder in the blender. Add 1 egg white and 2 tablespoons of honey. Pulse in the blender to combine and smooth this mixture over your clean face. Avoid the eye area. Keep this on your face for 15 minutes and rinse off with warm water, pat dry and apply a light moisturizer.

2. Scrub your hands. Mix oatmeal, either quick cooking or old-fashioned (not flavored), with enough milk to make a thin paste and scrub your hands well with it. This will remove all that dirt from your gardening or other projects and your hands will feel softened and smooth.

3. Soothe itchy skin. Grind a cup of oatmeal until it's a fine powder. Stir this powder in to your warm bath and soak in it for as long as you would like. This is the exact same thing you are getting when you buy the special oatmeal baths and will only cost you pennies. Oatmeal will soothe itching from chicken pox, poison ivy, and other itchiness. It is harmless and nonirritating. It's ideal for children with eczema.

4. Shampoo a shut-in. Oatmeal and baking soda make an excellent and effective dry shampoo for those who are bedridden or ill. It will soak up the excess oils and neutralize odor. Grind 1/4 oatmeal to a fine powder, then add 1/4 cup baking soda and pulse to combine. Put a towel around your shoulders, or the shoulders of the person to be shampooed. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the mixture over the scalp, working it to the roots. Let it sit for 5 minutes then gently brush it out over the towel.

Let's see lots of link ups this week!

Frugal Friday Link Up--4 Uses for Mustard

Let's see...what kind of frugal week has it been for me....
I did get a few good deals with coupons. Libby's veggies were on sale for .49 a can and I had a $1/4 coupon so that made them just .24 a can. In Sunday's paper was a coupon for $5 off any size bag of Purina ONE Beyond dog food. I found it at Target marked down to $5.99. Woo hoo! Just .99 for a bag of food the animals love. My mom gave me the coupon from her paper so I'm glad I will be able to get another bag for little money. Also at Target I used the $1 off Market Fresh cheese getting the bag of grated cheese for just $1.59, and used the $1 off any Market Fresh pasta and pasta sauce getting both of those for $1.46.
I also used 3 coupons that were .50/2 Dole fruit. I bought the small cans so with the coupon doubled it made one can for each coupon free. It felt good to feel like I was actually doing some shopping.

I have my work cut out for me getting my coupons in order. Shamefully I hadn't touched my coupons or my binder since the first of December. The store has some great $1 sales this week that I am in hopes of finding coupons to match.

I won a $50 JC Penney card from beezag, so Jasmine and I plan on heading out this afternoon for some shopping! I found a $10 off $50 coupon online to print out, so that will give us even more shopping power. We both plan on buying jeans for sure.

This week I am sharing 4 uses for mustard from the 99 Cent Solutions book:
1. Soothe a chest cold. Did you grandma use an old fashioned mustard plaster? I can honestly say that if my grandma did, it's not one of the things I remember about her. However, you can smear plain old yellow mustard directly on to your chest then cover that with a hand towel wrung out of hot water. They say you will feel the congestion start to break up.

2. Relax your muscles. Add 3/4 cup yellow prepared mustard to a hot bath and mix it in well. Soak for about 15 minutes and you will feel those tense muscles start to unwind.

3. Get then skunk out. Let's hope you don't ever have to try this trick, but if you get sprayed by a skunk wash with tomato juice. That's an old wives tale that is true. However, if you've run a skunk over with your vehicle, which it was dead or alive, you can't splash tomato juice all over your car. Mix 1 cup of dry mustard powder with a gallon of warm water and slosh the mixture all over the tires and underbody. This will get rid of the smell.

4. Freshen a recycled bottle. This is a trick that I must give a try. You can squirt yellow mustard into any bottle, fill the bottle (or jar) half full with warm water, put the lid on and swish the water around. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and rinse and wash. You should smell no scent at all from whatever was previously in the bottle.

Stay tuned next week for 4 uses for oatmeal.

I have 4 giveaways currently here on my blog. I do hope you will check them out. One does end tomorrow. You can always find my giveaways listed on my Giveaways/Reviews page.

Until next week, save a lot of $$ and let's hope we see a lot of sharing in the linky.

Frugal Friday Link Up--5 Uses for Milk

Welcome to Friday!
This week for me has been mostly a crafting week.  I am working on getting through my yarn stash as well as my plastic canvas stash.  I'm also working on quilting and things.  I do not want to, or need to, buy anymore craft supplies until I use up what I have!  This could take 2 or 3 years, maybe more, so I am in good shape on getting things made.

I just finished reading through a book that I want to share with you.  It's called Self-Sufficiency.  It's a complete guide to baking, carpentry, crafts, organic gardening, preserving your harvest, raising animals and more!
It's published by Skyhorse publishing, Inc and the ISBN is 978-1-60239-999-0

This is a very large hard back book, consisting of 458 pages.  There are loads of photos and illustrations to teach you how to live sustainably, live simply, and live independently.  
I'm in love with this book!  I have the link to it on amazon below.

There are 3 other books in the series--Back to Basics, Homesteading, and Simpler Living.  I intend to add all of them to my collection and really get serious about all of this!

Self-Sufficiency: A Complete Guide to Baking, Carpentry, Crafts, Organic Gardening, Preserving Your Harvest, Raising Animals, and More! (The Self-Sufficiency Series)





Now I want to move on to sharing from the 99 Cent Solutions book. This week I am sharing 5 uses for milk.
1. Shave your face. Use milk i place of shaving foam. Warm full fat milk and pat it onto your skin. While shaving continue to pat more milk on to keep your skin wet. For men this is probably just an emergency fix, but for us women and shaving our legs, we may never go back!

2. Relieve a child's itchy skin. Mix powdered milk with just enough warm water to make the thickness of heavy cream. Add a tiny pinch of salt and spread it over the affected skin. It's milk enough that you can reapply it as often as necessary to bring relief, just rinse off the previous application and slather on a new one.

3. Take a milk bath! Cleopatra did it, so why not? Milk moisturizes and softens the skin. Pour 2 or 3 cups of milk into the bath as the water runs. You can also use one cup of powdered milk. You can even add a little scented bath oil if you wish. Soak for at least 10 minutes for best results.

4. Sweeten fish and corn. To avoid the wateriness you usually get when thawing fish, place the unwrapped block in a shallow dish of milk to thaw. It will taste fresher when it's cooked. Add 1 cup of milk to the pot of boiling water for corn on the cob and you will get sweeter corn.

5. Have a milk massage. Add a few drops of essential oils to a little milk and spread it over your skin or use it in a bath. Make the solution up fresh when you need it. This will avoid the greasy feeling of the carrier oil.

Frugal Friday Link Up--4 Uses for Meat Tenderizer

Good Morning! I hope your new year is off to a frugal start.
I have some things in mind that I've not gotten to, and at the same time I've been doing well.
I plan, first of all, on making the homemade Bisquik. Hopefully I will get to that today.
I've been doing some things like making sure lights are turned off in rooms we aren't in, or they aren't on if we don't really need them on. I'm working on getting crafts done from my stash of supplies. Seriously, if I didn't buy any more supplies, I have enough to keep me busy I would guess for 3 or 4 years! I did buy a spool of thread, but a couple more would keep me in my sewing too with all the material I have.

I built 2 new squidoo lenses this past week that are along the lines of saving money and being frugal. I will link those up in the linky this week. Yes, you may link up any url you like as long as it's on subject, not just blog posts.

I was looking through this 99 Cent Solutions book and realizing that sharing out of the way I am, it would be a couple more years at least to get through the whole book. I hope to start doing separate blog posts with more throughout the week and just linking them up to this post. That way we can call learn faster from the book and I might actually get through it too.

This week it's 4 uses for meat tenderizer:
1. Take the bite out of a mosquito attack. Slather on a paste made by mixing a little meat tenderizer with a few drops of water on that itchy red bump. Let it sit for 5 minutes before washing it off. If you catch the bite right away there will be no mark at all left. Even hours later you will still reduce the redness and swelling significantly.

2. Ease a sting. The same trick works for a wasp or hornet sting, relieving the pain almost instantly. If the stinger is still in the skin, gently remove it with tweezers, being careful not to squeeze it deeper into the wound. Apply the meat tenderizer and water paste and let it remain on the skin until it dries and flakes off. This take about 15 minutes or so. The enzymes break down the toxins from the sting.

3. Soothe lower back pain. Mix 1/4 cup meat tenderizer with 2 tablespoons of water, adding a bit more as needed to make a runny paste. Rub this right into the skin over your aching lower back. Ideally, cover the area with a washcloth dipped in hot water and squeezed out. After 10 or 15 minutes you will feel the muscles start to relax. Rinse it off and take it easy.

4. Take on touch stains. Hot chocolate, coffee with milk, blood---these protein based stains are usually nearly impossible to remove completely. If the stain is still wet you have the best chance. If not, wet he cloth and hope for the best. Sprinkle the stained area thickly with meat tenderizer, rub it in, and let it rest for 1 hour. Then launder as usual.

Until next week!

Frugal Friday Link Up--5 Uses for Mayonnaise

It's Friday, and time to link up your frugal posts for the week. It's also almost the new year! Is one of your goals for the new year to live a more frugal life? To save more money? To get more organized?

For me, I've always tried to live a frugal life, both out of necessity as well as it's a lifestyle that I enjoy. I've been thinking about it more and more lately as there are some goals that I have for things I would like to buy. My goal shopping list includes laptops for both my daughter and myself, cubby organizers for my craft room, a van, and a camper. The last 2 will really require saving money in other places to be able to afford them.

Being online is wonderful. There are so many freebies out there to help with the money saving venture. Then there are the products that I get to review as a blogger. Items we can use, as well as items I can use as gifts. I'm set on laundry detergent for quite awhile, thanks to getting in laundry detergent from both Purex and Tide for review.

I hope the tips I share throughout the year from the 99 Cent Solutions book help in our efforts to save money and e more frugal. It's amazing what every day products that we usually already have in our house can do. Using this everyday stuff instead of going out and buying specific products is a real money saver.

Today I am sharing 5 ways to use mayonnaise:

1. Take crayon off of polished wood. If the children got a little crayon crazy on your varnished maple table, just rub on a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise with a paper towel and let it sit. Rub again and wa lah! the markes are gone.

2. Take the sap off our your auto paint. Sap is usually very hard to get off of your car with just soap and water, and you don't want to use anything abrasive and mess up the paint job. Rub a generous amount of mayonnaise directly on the sap deposits and let it sit for 10 minutes. Use a soft, absorbent rag to remove both the mayonnaise and the sap, then wash the car as usual. The same treatment will remove road tar that accumulates on the fenders.

3. Photo worthy houseplants. Dip a paper towel in mayonnaise and rub each leaf. Polish it off with another paper towel and the leaves will have a gleaming, deep-green shine for months.

4. Soften ragged cuticles. If your nails looks rough and ragged, don't soak them in dish detergent, instead put them in a dish of mayo for 5 minutes and then wipe them with a paper towel. Trim your nails while they are a bit softer from the soak, and use an orange stick to push back the raggedy cuticles. Wash your hands with warm water, put on some lotion, and your hands will look like you just had a fancy manicure.

5. Two-for-one hair and skin treatment. Condition both your hair and smooth your face at the same time with a mayonnaise treatment. Massage the mayo into your dry hair and scalp, then wrap it in a towel or put on a shower cap. While your hair rests in it's treatment, spread a thin layer of mayo over your freshly washed face. Avoid the eye area when doing this. Lie down with a couple of damp tea bags or cucumber slices over your eyes for 15 minutes and then step right into the shower to wash it all off. You will feel like you just came back from the salon. (in my experience, it takes several washings to remove the greasy effect of the mayonnaise)(when I worked for the Headstart program and we had the headlice outbreak, it was suggested to parents to put mayo in the child's hair and put on a shower cap overnight to suffocate the lice. It seemed to really work and a lot less expensive than the over the counter lice treatments, not to mention much safer for the child)

Until next week, I want to wish you all a:


Happy New Year Glitter Pictures

Frugal Friday Link Up--3 Uses for Marshmallows

First of all, let me apologize for not getting this posted first thing this morning! Christmas time is crazy time with final preparations. I kept 4 grandkids overnight last night. This morning I had the good idea to get out the craft supplies and let them sit at the kitchen table and create. What we created was a mess, but they had a good time. We aren't done yet though as now I got out the construction paper, glue, glitter, markers, etc so they can make Christmas cards for others. Good thing my kitchen was already a mess LOL

I have completed my baking. I didn't do near what I usually do. I made everyone (30 people) individual banana breads and then did pretzels dipped in white almond bark. All I have left to do is get what food I can ready today for tomorrows dinners. I hope hubby remembers to bring home dinner rolls! Better give him a call.

Now, this week out of the 99 Cent Solutions book are 3 uses for marshmallows. A bit of history in the book tells me that marshmallows used to be used to soothe sore throats. The replacement of the root juice with gelatin put a stop to this.

1. Top a cupcake. Anyone can make frosting, but be the coolest mom is school by bringing cupcakes topped with melted marshmallows. Once the cupcakes are done in the oven, just pop a marshmallow on top of each one and leave them in the oven just 1 minute longer. Cool completely. As an added feature, melt 1 cups of chocolate chips in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 minute on high. Use a fork to drip strips all over the surface of the marshmallow.

2. Drip proof sugar cone. Wa la! Drop a mini marshmallow followed by a large marshmallow into the bottom of pointed sugar cone and this will cause a barrier that drips can't get out of.

3. Preserve brown sugar. Put 2 or 3 large fresh marshmallows in your bag of brown sugar before sealing the bag. This will stop your brown sugar from being a piece of brown granite next time you are ready to bake. As as added measure, also seal the bag inside a plastic container.

Any other ideas for marshmallows? Just leave me a comment! (I am having a world of a time typing marshmallows instead of marshamellows LOL My name is Marsha and my nickname is Mellow!)

Before adding the linky, I do want to wish each and every one of you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!