Homemade Laundry Detergent

A long, long time ago I started making homemade fabric softener. I am still using this, although I don't use it as fabric softener - I use it as dryer sheets, by dipping a rag into it, wringing it out and tossing it in the dryer with each load. Ever since I made that, I had planned on making homemade laundry detergent when I ran out of the store bought stuff that I had. I had all the supplies on hand to make it, but I didn't need to start until a few weeks ago because first my mom bought a high efficiency set and gave me a few containers of detergent that she couldn't use and then my aunt did the same. I ended up with about a year's worth of free laundry detergent, which was great. Thanks Mom and Shelley!

A few months ago, though, I came to the end of this supply so I decided it would be a great time to try making my own. I put together a small batch, so I could see how I liked it. I made enough to last about a month and was quite pleased with the results, so this time, I made four times as much, so that it will last me quite a bit longer in between making batches. It is so cheap and easy to make. The only tedious part is grating the soup. But, I just do it while watching TV (or better yet, ask the FD to do it for me) and it's no problem at all!

It cost me between $10-15 to buy all the ingredients (a large box of borax, a large box of washing soda, and a bulk package of Ivory soap) and this will give me enough to make at least 5 batches of detergent (based on 2 bars of ivory per batch, 10 bars in the package). At that point, I will still have lots of borax and washing soda left but I will need to restock on bar soap.

What you will need:

Homemade Laundry Detergent - from Tereasa and Taryn
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
4 cups finely shredded gentle soap - I use Ivory (One shredded bar equals approx. two cups)

Mix all ingredients together in a large air tight container and store in your laundry room.

I use two tablespoons of the mixture per large load and one tablespoon for a small load.

Holiday Planning

Preface: Thank you all so much for the sweet wishes on our anniversary. You are all so kind and sweet to me (us). We had an absolutely wonderful day today, which I will share more about on Friday. Right now (Wednesday PM), I am super duper tired and have a billion pictures to sort through so in the meantime, I decided to schedule a post I had written and planned for next week to be posted in the morning (i.e. now - if you are reading this). Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway.

It has been a long long while since I have posted anything related to Thrifty Thursday. Somewhere along the line, I began to steer away from posting about how to save money and be an organized budgeter. Due to some comments and e-mails I've recently received from readers, I am going to attempt to focus on these topics a little bit more.

Did you know that there are exactly 133 sleeps until the guy in the big red suit will be jumping down our chimneys? You might think it is rather early to begin thinking about Christmas but if the picture below depicts how you feel about the holiday season, you may want to keep reading.

(source)

I love the Christmas season and all that brings. I begin to think about Christmas on, let's see, December 26th. Usually mid-way through the summer I start to get really excited about what will take place during the next holiday season. However, at the same time, I find that Christmas can be a financially, and in turn, emotionally draining time. Even more than that, I often experience a mild case of the post-Christmas blues in January and February. Therefore, for me, there is nothing worse than trying to figure out how to pay off all the Christmas expenses as I enter the new year, seeing as I am already somewhat gloomy about Christmas being over.

In order to ensure that the financial burden of Christmas does not overwhelm me, I have to prepare early. In this post, I am going to share with you how I go about doing this. Please remember that what I do to budget for Christmas may be very different than what you do because each of our our financial and employment situations are different. Perhaps what I do won't work for you but I hope that you can find at least something helpful in this post.

So, last week when I sat down to start getting ready for Christmas this is what I did.

1. Make a budget - Begin by writing down all the expenses you anticipate having at Christmas. My categories were as follows: hospitality (includes: food, baking, decorations, Christmas cards and postage, wrapping expenses), gifts for my family, gifts for FD's family, gifts for others and traveling expenses.

After compiling the list of expenses, I prepared an excel spreadsheet to keep track of them. I set a limit for each category and then broke them down further. For example, there is a total limit for gifts for each family and this is further broken down into a limit for each individual. There is a total for the hospitality budget and then a limit for each category.

In my spreadsheet, I have it set so that as I enter each purchase it will adjust the amount I have left in that area, the category and the total Christmas budget. For example, when I buy the postage for my Christmas cards, I will enter that amount onto the proper line and my spreadsheet will calculate how much I have left for postage/Cards, how much I have left in the hospitality category and how much I have left in total. This way, there is a bit of wiggle room in case I need to go over or under in some categories. The main goal is that the overall budget will always balance.

2. Be realistic - Think back to previous years when estimating how much money you will need to allot for each category. Be realistic. If you know you will be doing a lot of entertaining, then add more to the food category. If you know you love to have beautiful wrapping paper, bows and tags, give yourself room here. Think back to what you already have. For example, last Christmas I bought a lot of wrapping supplies on boxing day clearance. Therefore, I knew I didn't need to allot much here but I did not get Christmas cards on clearance so I needed to plan for that.

3. Overestimate - Be generous. If you are unsure of how much you will need in a specific category, it is better to overestimate than to underestimate. When all is said and done, you will be better to have allotted more for holiday food and have money leftover than to have budgeted too little and be scrambling to find the money to cover your expenses.

I budgeted quite high in the food and baking category. Since it is only August, I have no idea how many events/dinners/parties and so on I will be hosting so I ensured that I left myself enough wiggle room. In the event that I do less hosting than I anticipate, I will have money leftover to cover unforeseen expenses or to go back into savings.

4. Figure out how you can make it happen - Once you have your budget and/or spreadsheet set up, you will see how much money you need to have available to you when the holidays roll around. Figure out how you can make that happen in the months left before Christmas.

For us, this looks a little something like this (remember: each of our situations is unique and what works for me may not work for you)...

Our bank was recently offering as Easy Save program where a set amount of money will be transferred to a savings account each time you use your debit card and/or ATM machine. We set it up so that 2.00 will be transferred each time we use debit or ATM. Each time we reach $100 in the account, the bank will give us $10. The savings account that it is being transferred to is not our normal savings account, but one that is being used solely for this purpose. We set up the program so that we do not have access to this savings account through our debit card or ATM machine (i.e., we have to actually go into the bank if we want to access this money). Having the inconvenient access to the money decreases the likelihood of us dipping into it "just because".

Secondly, in September, when school begins, my contract will be renewed and I will start working again. Since we become accustomed to living on one income through the summer, the majority of my paycheck goes into our pre-existing savings account. This year, when I go back to work, I will transfer the first few paychecks to the Easy Save account instead.

From the accumulation of each $2.00 transfer, the $10 gifts from the bank, and one or two of my paychecks, we will have more than enough money in that account to cover our Christmas expenses by mid-September.

This account will become our "Christmas Account". When the time comes for holiday purchases to begin, we will go into the bank and ask them to set up debit card access on the account. Then, whenever we are making Christmas purchases, we will use that account rather than our normal day-to-day account. Knowing the money will already be sitting there waiting for us will take an enormous amount of Christmas stress off of our shoulders!

5. Stick to it. When you are doing Christmas shopping, take a few minutes when you get home to sit down with your receipts and enter the purchases into your spreadsheet so you know where you stand with your budget. Don't fret if you go over budget in one or two categories, just look through and determine where you can cut expenses. Sometimes if I get a bit off track on a budget, I end up throwing the entire thing out the window. Not this time! The main goal is to ensure that your total budget is balanced.

Another thing I am going to try hard to do this year is to keep Christmas purchases and regular purchases separate. Considering we are using a specific account for all of our Christmas purchases, this shouldn't be hard. Budgeting can be difficult if you don't know where you are spending your money and you have to sift through receipt upon receipt to figure out how much you are spending in any given category. This year, if I am shopping and have a cart that is half full of Christmas purchases and half full of regular household purchases, I am going to ask the teller to ring them through separately. I don't really care if this makes me a pain in the butt, it will help me stick to my budget because it will be so much easier to input the purchases into my spreadsheet if all the Christmas purchases are organized.

6. My last suggestion is to find what works. Maybe nothing I said here is helpful to you due to your own personal situation. If that is the case, find a system that works for you. If you already have a system, I'd love to hear about it. The important part is finding something that works for you and your family.

To recap, here are my steps to ensure that Christmastime stress will be minimized and that we will not be paying for Christmas 2009 in March 2010!
1. Budget 2. Be realistic 3. Overestimate 4. Make it happen
5. Stick to it 6. Find what works

Turn this ....

(source)

Into this....

(source)

Any other tips on how to ease the financial stress of the holiday season?

Garage Sale Fun

Head over to Homebody Holly's to see what others thrifty deals have been found this week.

As I mentioned in my weekend recap post, I did a bit of garage saleing on Saturday morning. I went with a whole slew of my in-laws, I think there were more than 15 of us at one point.

The morning started off pretty well. SIL #1 was got a bag of gender-neutral infant clothes for $5 for the baby that is on the way. The clothes were all in great shape and some looked like they had never even been worn.

At the second sale we went to, I picked up these Brandy glasses, which I will use for desserts and parfaits and a microwave popcorn maker that I had been contemplating purchasing at Walmart for quite some time. My total here was $5. Not the greatest deal but still good considering I would have paid $15 for the popcorn maker alone at Walmart.

We stopped at a few other sales, some were okay, so not so much. But then, we saw a sign pointing down to an area on the water where lots of people have cottages. We followed the sign and drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. We began to wonder if they were trying to lure us into some sort of trap.

Eventually, we made our way to the sale that was located at a little cottage on the water. When we got out of our car, we saw boxes and boxes covering the ground all around the cottage. My first impression was that this garage sale was not very organized. Well, organized or not, it was a sweet sale. We discovered that the previous owner of the cottage had passed away and so they were selling many of her things (I am not sure if the seller's were her children/family or the new owners of the cottage). Apparently, the previous owner was a bit of a shop-a-holic, as was evidenced by the possessions. Most boxes were filled with unopened and unused items. AND, they were practically GIVING this stuff away. Most boxes were labeled 10 cents each, but some things didn't even have a price. What we discovered was that we could pretty much fill our arms, bags, boxes, what have you, and they would either say $2 or $3. Here's what I scored at this garage sale....

Two country fair drinking jars (I collect Roosters)

Two old lanterns. My plan here is to clean them up and possibly spray paint them. I have an idea for a decorating scheme I want to incorporate into our home and these will fit perfectly.Christmas Loot. If you can't tell all of this is unopened. There is a cookie recipe book, a package of cookie cutters, two packages of candy cups, a package of Christmas cards, Snowman element covers, Jell-o mould, self-adhesive decorations (perfect for cards, scrapbooking and adding an extra something to gift tags), and a Penguin decoration.

8 mini storage containers (unopened). These are the perfect size for granola, trail mix and even craft supplies such as beads, brads and other embellishments

A Tupperware patty press. This might have been my most exciting find of the day. Last week when I was making my Greek feta burgers, I was wishing for one of these. My mom had one when I was growing up and it is really quite handy when making homemade burgers. It makes them the right shape and size and even comes with storage containers to keep them in. When the FD's uncle found this and asked if anyone wanted it, I leaped at him like a rapid squirrel and got it before anyone else could. Trust me, we were vicious at this sale. FD's 5 year old cousin was diving into all the boxes, holding up items and yelling, "Mom, do you need this?" Classic....Lastly, I got these bread baking supplies. First up, a set of 5 disposable mini loaf pans, perfect for gifts. Those mini pans are sitting inside a regular sized loaf pan, that is clearly brand new. And the best deal of the day - two sets of miniature locking loaf pans. Each of these pans have 4 little loaf pans and they are all connected for easy storage (should I be on infomercials or what?). Both of these are brand new and still had the price tags on them. 16.99 each!

And I got all this for a total of ..... wait for it ....

$2.25!!

So, my grand total for the day was 7.25. I'd say it was a pretty good haul, especially considering those linked loaf pans which are worth more than $30 alone! If I had kids, my haul would have been even better because there were a couple really great sales selling tons of baby clothes, blankets and other items as well as toys and books. But, I guess you have to stop somewhere, right?

Thrifty Thursday - Pantry Week

This week I decided to boycott the grocery store and save some money by planning a pantry week and making meals only with ingredients we already have in our cupboards/fridge/freezer. Sometimes I think it would be interesting to see how long we could go without shopping before the words "There's nothing to eat" were actually true. Although, I'm never going to do that because I think I would have a panic attack if I completely eliminated my stock pile.

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to start incorporating a pantry week once every two months, if possible. It is a great way to save a little money or perhaps catch up if you went over budget earlier in the month. This was the case for me this month so I needed to slow down and get the bank account in order. I will say that I had one day this week that I was not responsible for feeding us, so it made it easy.

Here is what I came up with for my pantry week...

Monday
Breakfast and Lunch - we were still at my parents house after our mini-getaway (Did I tell you I feel completely and totally rejuvenated now?)
Supper - we were at my brothers where my sister and nephew surprised my mom

Tuesday
Breakfast - me, grapefruit; FD, I'm not sure I was still asleep :D
Lunch - me, grilled cheese on whole wheat bread with shaved turkey and an apple; FD, leftover chicken wraps/rice from the weekend
Supper - Chicken and Rice

Wednesday
Breakfast - me, grapefruit; FD, fried egg sandwich (I wasn't sleeping this morning)
Lunch - me, Couscous salad (leftover from Small group potluck on weekend) orange, yogurt; FD, leftover chicken and rice
Supper - French Toast with homemade French Bread (I had a craving, okay?)

Thursday
Breakfast - me, leftover French Toast; FD, whatever he wants, I'll be sleeping again
Lunch - me, Couscous Salad; FD, couscous salad, turkey sandwich
Supper - Mexican Enchilada Bake

Friday
Breakfast - me, Fruit smoothie; FD, toast or cereal
Lunch - me, couscous salad and fruit; FD, leftover enchilada bake
Supper - Pesto Alfredo Penne with turkey and peppers

Just to let you know, I don't normally menu plan our breakfasts and lunches. Breakfast is usually fruit, yogurt, cereal or toast and lunches are usually leftovers for the hubby and soup/salad for me. I only planned things out this week because I was doing the pantry week and wanted to make sure I could swing it.

Do any of you work pantry week's into your menu planning schedule? If so, how often? If you haven't tried it, I would encourage you to challenge yourself to spending $0 on food (or as close to $0 as possible) in a given week and make use of what you've got stashed in your cupboards and in the bottom of your freezer.

Thrifty Thursday - Got Milk?

Buying milk can get expensive. I don't even have kids yet, but between the two of us, we consume our fair share. Hubster drinks at least one glass a day with dinner (usually more) and I have a smoothie for breakfast most days along with the occasional glass of milk here and there. Add to the milk that is used while cooking/baking and we can zoom through a bag of milk in no time at all.

So, over the past few months I've tried to reduce the amount of money we spend on milk by replacing fresh milk with dry milk powder in cooking and baking and saving the fresh milk for drinking. I got my inspiration to do this from Gayle over at The Grocery Cart Challenge. It is pretty amazing what she can do with relatively little money, and this is one of the ways she cuts costs.

I have really noticed a difference with how much milk we have to buy. So far, I have purchased about $8.00 worth of dry milk powder once at the bulk store in January and have used about 3/4 of it. I would also say I've reduced our fresh milk purchases by at least half. Instead of buying two 4-litre bags/week I am now buying one 4-litre/week or every two weeks. This is something that perhaps many of you already do but I'll be completely honest and tell you that I was pretty excited when I realized how much milk (read: $$$) I could save by doing this. If you want to try using dry milk powder in place of milk just mix 1 part powder with 4 parts water. (Did I say that right? ... It's late and I'm tired.) For one cup of water add 1/4 cup of powder.

Happy Thrifty Thursday! I'd love to hear any quick and easy money saving tips that you have.

New Recipe FAIL

I know it's Thursday and so I should be posting for Thrifty Thursday. However, I have been SO far from thrifty this week that to write a post on how to be thrifty would be incredibly dishonest. So, instead, I'll share a funny story...

The only problem with being a crazy kitchen person wanna-be Chef and constantly trying new ideas and new recipes is that every once in a while our dinner is prefaced like this:

FD: "What's for dinner?"
Me: "Oh just something new I tried".
FD: Picks up his fork and is about to take a bite.
Me: "WAIT! Just wait. Before you try it, let me warn you, this might not taste good."

Last night was one of those nights. I've been really trying to use up some of the meat and other food in our freezer lately. I've been doing my best to work with what we've got. I also recently picked up a copy of Better Homes and Gardens 9x13 The Pan That Can cookbook. It has some great (and apparently NOT so great) recipes that I'm eager to try.

Last night, I had fish on the menu. We had a package of sole (I think) that had been in there since ... well, probably forever. I'd like to say that we gain the health benefits of eating fish once or twice a week, but .... well, I'd by lying. Let's just say that unless it is deep fried and served with a side of fresh cut fries, I'm not that pumped about fish. We both love love love seafood so maybe I just haven't found the right way to cook it or I'm buying crappy fish or something, but I just can't make a fish recipe that we like.

I thought I had overcome that challenge last night when I found a recipe for "Mushroom Dill Baked Fish". The recipe sounded so good and usually I can spot a good recipe.

I should have heeded the warning when hubby walked in the door as I was preparing the sauce and said "What is that nasty smell?" ... "Umm, that's our dinner sweetie".

Once it was all put together and cooked, it looked and smelled quite nicely, I thought.

I served it with leftover scalloped potatoes (thanks, Mumma) and steamed cauliflower. We loaded up our plates, sat down on the couch in front of the TV (oops - I swear we don't do this all the time) and dug in.

It.Tasted.Absolutely.Awful. Seriously, I couldn't even finish what was on my plate. And what's worse, Evan said he wouldn't take it to work for lunch the next day. And this dude will eat anything. I thought that I convinced him it wasn't that bad ...surely he could force it down? I mean I did work really hard to make it.

Could he actually be so rude as to refuse my cooking?

Apparently so.

Seriously, you know this is bad. We (and especially he) NEVER throw out food. This definitely qualifies as the worst thing I've ever made.

Thrifty Thursday - Meat Selections

Last week I got a crazy wicked awesome deal and I thought I'd share it with you as a way to be a bit frugal. Lots of people have posted on the cost benefits of buying and cutting up a whole chicken rather than purchasing already cut, boned and skinned pieces. It's true, doing it this way is cheaper but can be more work. Last week whole turkey's were on sale for 1.00/lb at my local grocery store. I went and bought a 12 pounder (can you guess how much it cost?). The Fabulous Dude isn't a huge fan of roast turkey (WHAT? Is he serious?) and we didn't really have enough room in the freezer to fit it in without doing some MAJOR reshuffling so I decided to thaw it in the fridge and cook it immediately.

So, that's what I did. I didn't get brave enough to cut the whole turkey up and skin it and all that jazz so I just roasted it as is. Then, when it was done, I carved it just as you would to serve it for a meal but instead of eating it, I then froze the cooked meat in "meal size portions". I deliberately left a bit of meat on the bones so I could boil the carcass for soup and have that meat fall off the bones in the process.

From that turkey, I have enough to make 7 meals (which will also include leftovers) and a big pot of soup.

This is my plan for the turkey this month:
Turkey Soup (which I already made - we've each had 3 or 4 bowls and I have 8 bowls worth in the freezer).
Turkey and Cornbread Casserole
Turkey Tettrazini
Baked Turkey Penne
Turkey and Cheese Calzones
Turkey Jambalaya
Turkey Enchiladas
Turkey Pot Pie

So, my purchase got me at least 7 suppers plus leftovers for lunch, plus soup. I'd say that is a lot of bang for my buck, wouldn't you? It is definitely worth it to watch for sales and buy larger portions of meat at once and either cook and freeze for later use, or (if it comes fresh) divide and freeze in portions that suit your family. I think we'll be Turkeyed out by the end of this month.

Thrifty Thursday - Swap

This week's tip comes from my S.I.L (who, regrettably, does not have a blog). She mentioned this idea a while back as a great way to save money. It's something I have never tried formally, but would love to someday.

We all love to add a new piece of clothing to our wardrobe, a new accessory to our jewelry box, or a new piece of decor to our home. However, we also all know that adding these new pieces can become a bit pricey.

Gather a few close friends, who have the same style/taste/size as you and organize a swap. You can set whichever parameters you'd like. Maybe each person is asked to bring three articles of clothing that are still nice and stylish but that they don't wear often anymore. Or maybe you each bring a few hair accessories or decorative items that you don't have a place for in your home. I'd recommend if you do something like this you organize it with friends who you are really comfortable and open with. You want to be able to pass up on items that you don't really care for, and you wouldn't want to hurt someone's feelings by saying you think the shirt they brought is ugly.

Another suggestion would be to organize a kitchen swap. See if you have a few friends who have kitchen tools or appliances that they don't have a use for. Have a waffle maker stuffed back in your cupboard somewhere that you've only used twice? Have a friend who loves to make waffles? There ya go. Maybe you can even develop the swap into a party. Everyone brings a few items to swap along with a snack and recipe to swap?

Although I've never formally organized a clothing or decor swap, my SIL and I have done a bit of 'informal swapping' in the past. Mostly we've given each other earrings, hair bands and other accessories. Although one time she even gave me an extra hair brush that she didn't need because she knew the handle on mine had been broken for a long time. So, it doesn't have to be a formally organized event. Maybe you just want to have a running agreement with a close friend or family member that you will swap things that you are bored with etc.

If you have a few girlfriends, sisters or coworkers who have a groovin' style, see if they want to be involved in some kind of swap. It could be a great way to have some fun with the girls, get a few "new to you" nice things and avoid dishin' out the dough! If any of you have ever done a swap, let me know how you organized it and how it went.

Have a thrifty thursday!

Thrifty Thursday - Double Up!!

Phew! I am back. What a week. We traveled north last Friday. I went to my sister's with my parents, brother and his wife and the fabulous dude headed to the "home country" to play hockey with my cousins. The rest of us headed over there Sunday morning in time for church. Then, the visitation for my Grandpa was on Sunday evening and the funeral on Monday. After the funeral, we all headed back to my sister's for another night and headed home early Tuesday morning. In total, between Friday and Tuesday we spent 26 hours in the car. Fun.

The weekend with my family was great. It is always good to be with family, although the circumstances for the reunion were unfortunate. It was an emotional time for everyone as we said our goodbyes to our grandpa, dad, brother, uncle etc. Grandpa was a farmer so Emily placed a toy tractor in his casket along with giving us each a cow to give to him, one to represent each grandchild and great grandchild. The funeral service was a beautiful tribute to his life. The preacher at his church led the service and did a wonderful job. Two of my cousins, Joel and Emily, gave beautiful testimonies to our grandfather. Joel counted down the top 10 reasons you know you're part of Grandpa's "herd" (the cows). They both spoke of wonderful memories of a great man and spoke of his love for life, his family and most importantly, his God.

By the time we got home late Tuesday evening, we were exhausted. So far, I've gone to bed before 9:30 both nights since I've been home. This is also my reading week, so I was glad that I didn't have to miss any school while traveling, although it does mean I have a lot of catching up to do to be sure I get done everything I need to get done before going back to class next week.

Okay, so, I'm sure by now you're wondering how in the world this post is about being thrifty?

Well, my tip for this week has to do with reducing the chance that you abandon your budget on weeks like this (when you're busy, traveling, tired, sick, lazy etc). This tip only really works if you've got freezer space. When I make a casserole, pasta, soup, chili or basically anything else, I try to cook double what I need to freeze for later use. Usually, I do a major cooking day at the beginning of each semester to have pre-made, healthy, homemade meals on hand.

This week, my doubled up meals have come in handy. While trying to get caught up on work, unpack, get laundry done and so on, I don't have time to organize meals, grocery shop, or cook. So, I have been using up some of the pre-made meals from the freezer.

Although at the time, this doesn't really save money, I do find it does so in the end. The nights I use the pre-made meals tend to be those same nights that, in the past, I would have called the hubster at work and said, "pick up something on your way home". These are the nights we would generally eat out, grab take out, or another convenience meal from the grocery store. As you know, all of those things are quite pricey. This way, I have a meal that has already been paid for and is (usually) more healthy than the other options.

Having pre-made meals on hand in the freezer reduces stress and doesn't break the bank!

Thrifty Thursday - Baby Food

So, why is a lady without a baby, who's trying to save money, writing about baby food? She's not. I have been really busy this week, so my dear Sis, offered to write a guest post for me.

All of these thrifty Thursdays posts, brought to you by my lovely sis, have been an inspiration to me but, since I don’t have a blog of my own, I’m sharing my thrifty experience as her guest this week.

Becoming a new mommy while also buying/renovating/moving into a new house at the same time (not highly recommended) can drain the piggy bank pretty quickly. And, as any parent knows, babies are expensive. Who knew that in the first three weeks we would go through approximately 300 diapers? DS is now nearing 7 months and, while using less than half the number of diapers, is happily eating 3 “meals” a day. It’s so exciting the first time you go into the grocery store to buy baby food. Just like it was so exciting the first time you bought diapers (until you realize that you just went through 100 of them in one week). You go into the grocery, head for the baby isle, find the beginner foods and then choke when you find out that the jar of strained peas costs $0.75 (at least it does here…maybe it’s different other places that aren’t connected to the rest of civilization via a one-laned bridge). At first it’s no big deal, a teaspoon here and a tablespoon there. But soon it’s a jar here and a jar there and a screaming, crying baby if it doesn’t come fast enough or if it’s pears instead of the peaches that DS wants. So, for this week’s thrifty Thursday post I decided to make baby food and share my experience with you.

First, applesauce is applesauce, whether you buy it in the baby isle or elsewhere. They are exactly the same thing. I like to buy the snack packs (unsweetened of course) because it’s unsafe to feed a baby anything that’s been in the fridge for more than 3 days. Better safe than sorry. Although I must admit, sometimes the leftovers don’t make it back to the fridge.

The next thing I tried was sweet potatoes. Anything like squash or potatoes are easy to make. You just wash them and then bake or roast them (with the skin on to keep all the vitamins in) and then mash or blend them up. I blend mine still, mashed makes DS gag. If you need to add water to thin it you can. Then, I fill an ice cube tray, cover it with saran, freeze and then pop them out and into a freezer bag or container. The cubes that come out are about a tablespoon, maybe slightly more. At supper time I just take one or two cubes out and defrost in the microwave. This saves a ton of money and he likes them better.

Sweet potatoes were one sale for $0.79 per pound. I bought ~0.9lbs (3 potatoes) = $0.68

This made one tray of cubes. My tray makes 16 cubes or 8 meals. 8 meals for 0.68.

That’s the equivalent of 4 jars at 0.75 = 3.00

After my sweet success I may have got a little overly ambitious. Peas, I thought, I’ll make peas. I brought water to a boil and steamed them for about 10 minutes until they were tender.

Blended them up.

Added a little water.

What more could DS want than freshly cooked peas….

…ok, well, maybe he’s not ready for homemade peas yet. But I still have the sweet potatoes. Any suggestions on what I can do with 16 ice cubes of pureed peas?

Thrifty Thursday - Grocery Shopping

Last week I wrote about how I organize my monthly menu plans. Today I'm writing about how I grocery shop based on those monthly plans. After I finish making my monthly menu plan, I go through and write down a grocery list for each week. This includes the ingredients for the meals I have planned that I know I do not have on hand. I also add milk and eggs to the list every second week.

I shop once a week (usually Sunday afternoon or Monday morning). I take the list of the things I will know I need for the month and I add anything else that I know I am running out of. I also look in the flyers for both grocery stores I shop at to decide where I'm shopping that week and to see if anything I need is on sale (or if there's anything on sale that I could get in place of something on my list). I also keep an eye out for products I will be needing later in the month. If they go on sale early in the month and I have room in my budget, I pick it up.

Making a list when grocery shopping is seriously the only way I can possibly manage to stay on budget and not pull my hair out. I am pretty much obsessed with making lists so this isn't a problem for me. I have been known to make a "rough copy" and a "good copy" of my grocery list. I know it sounds silly but I like to have my list written in order of the grocery store sections. All the produce first, the meat and cheese next, frozen foods, etc ... you get the point. I also estimate the cost of products on my list so I can keep myself on budget.

After making a list, it is crucial that you stick to it when you get to the store. Especially if you've already looked through the flyers, there shouldn't be many deals that jump out to you as must haves. You should know what you need, be able to get it and leave.

I think it's also very helpful to find a grocery shopping pattern that suits you. What time is it best for you to go? What day? What store? For me, I like to grocery shop with my hub. I know this won't be possible once we have kids, but for now it works. We both shop better if we're together because we hold each other accountable rather than giving in to our cravings. We can also shop quicker this way, which makes it easier to stay on track. For you this may not be the case, maybe it works better to shop alone, without kids, with a good friend, on a certain day, at a certain time ... whatever the case may be, I encourage you to find the pattern that works well for you. I find that looking through flyers, making lists based on my menu plan and shopping with my husband helps me to stick to what I need and also cuts down on the number of quick trips to the grocery store throughout the week.

Some weeks there is something we would like to have but we don't know if it will fit in the budget. Once the groceries are being rung up, we see if we have a bit extra to spare and if so, we go grab that treat (usually chips, pop or ice cream ... my weakness). If there's no room to spare, then we will wait until next week ... okay, maybe that would be in an ideal world. More like we wait until the next day when we're at Walmart and get it there. Oops. But you get the point. Make a budget, make a menu, make a list. If you find what works for you, I guarantee you'll be amazed at how much money you can save, how many trips to the grocery store you can cut out and how much you can cut back on throwing out extra food. Happy Thrifty Thursday!

P.S. Today I just made my second batch of dryer sheets. That means they last for about two months.

Thrifty Thursday - Menu Planning

I heart menu planning.

Seriously. Because I love cooking so much, I consider it good times to sit down and think about what I'm going to make for the coming month.

Aside from the kick I get out of it, it also is SO helpful in keeping me organized and on budget. So, I've decided to share with you how I do my menu plans. This method may or may not work for the needs of your family. Regardless of the method you use, I encourage you to give menu planning a try if it's not something you do already. It also helps with the stress level because it reduces the craziness at the end of the day when you have to run around like a chicken with your head cut off wondering what's for dinner.

I only menu plan for supper. We mostly eat cereal, fruit and yogurt for breakfast and leftovers and soup for lunch so I don't plan them. I like to menu plan a month at a time, although some months get busy and I don't get it done at the beginning of the month so I end up going week by week. I find it to be more work that way.

I begin with an empty calendar template for the month. If you have a word processing program, you can probably find a template there. If not, just google it and I'm sure you'll find something. Next, I scan the month to see if there are any days that I know we'll be away, won't be eating dinner at home, will be having company etc. If we're away, I just put a line through the day. If I know we're having company I plan those days first and make note of it. I then spend some time curled up by the fire with my cookbooks to browse through and see if there are any ideas I want to try. I also have a list I add to through the month when I think of something I'd like to have or see a new recipe. Then I can try to incorporate them into the menu. Sometimes I don't have the time to do the recipe book search and those months usually are a little more boring. I usually add a step here where I ask the hubs if there's anything he would like to eat over the next month. Sometimes I get a response, sometimes I don't.

When planning my weeks I take a few things into account. I try to plan a crockpot meal on Tuesdays because I have class until 5 so I'm not home until nearly 6. That way I know things will be ready when I get home. I also try to put one or two meals in each week that I already have the ingredients for in my house. I put these meals near the end of the week. That way if something comes up during the week that I didn't plan for but I've already been grocery shopping I can bump out one of those meals and not end up with a pile of food that I don't have a use for. For example, tonight's meal is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, squash and peas. These are things I knew would be in the house regardless of my grocery shopping trip, so if we had been invited somewhere for dinner or something I could cancel this meal out.

I have a few staple meals that I make nearly every month like spagetti, stew, roasted chicken, soup and sandwiches and so on. I go through the calendar and put one or two of these meals in each week. By now, I have a Tuesday crockpot meal, one or two in-house-ingredient meals and one or two staple meals (which often overlap) on the menu. I'm left with a few days each week to be creative and add in the new recipes and ideas I've come up with.

When menu planning for the month, I have to be ready to be flexible. There are obviously things that come up week by week that I didn't plan for at the beginning and that's okay. I just use the monthly plan as a guide and then go week by week and make adjustments as necessary. I thought about including a sample of my monthly menu plan but I wasn't sure anyone would be interested in what we eat. If you are, let me know and I'll post one sometime. Next week I plan on writing about how I grocery shop based on my menu planning system. How do you menu plan? What works for you? I'd love to hear. Happy Thrifty Thursday.

Thrifty Thursday - Organization

You've all heard the saying before: "Organization is the key to success". Well it is. Plain and simple, it is. I might be a little biased on this observation because I am somewhat of an organization junky, but I really find that the only way I can stay on top of things and make sure that I am not overspending and overindulging is to be organized. So, I've decided for the next few weeks I will post a few ideas on how organization can help you to save money while grocery shopping.

The first thing you can do is to set a manageable and realistic budget. Try not to under or overestimate how much you should be spending on groceries per week (or month, whichever is better for you). At one point, I had set a budget that was way too high and I found myself buying things that I didn't need just because "the money was there". Yet on the other hand, I have also had times where I made my budget much too low and got stressed out trying to fit everything in. Finally, I think I have found a budget that fits our needs right now. If you know how much you are allocated to spend each week, it really helps when you're in the grocery store and debating over whether or not to buy that certain treat.

Also, don't beat yourself up if you have a week where you go slightly over budget. Things always come up ... unexpected company, potlucks, etc. Just try to monitor this and be sure that you aren't going over budget every week. If you go over a bit one week, try to aim to spend less the next week. For some people, using a cash only system seems to work. This means taking out the amount of cash that you allocate for groceries at the beginning of the month and using it throughout the month. If you run out before the last week of the month, then you should plan that week around what you've got in the house. Just a side note, I've tried the cash only system and it doesn't seem to work for me. The important thing is that you find something that works for you and your family.

Be specific about what is included in your grocery budget. Does this include cleaning supplies, pet supplies, hygienic products and money used to eat out? Being specific will help you to stick to your budget and not overspend. I have found many times when I am in WalMart or some other store and I see toilet paper on sale so I grab it. Then I'm always faced with the question ... does that come out of my grocery budget or not? This is something I have not been good at in the past. Cleaning supplies, pet supplies and hygienic products are supposed to be a part of my weekly budget, but sometimes I forget this and the products cause me to go over budget. Also, eating out is not in our grocery budget. We really enjoy food and really enjoy going out to eat, so we have a bit of a "fun" budget that we include eating out in.

Lastly, while deciding on a budget, take a few minutes to reevaluate your spending habits. Do you find yourself tossing out rotten produce on a regular basis? Do you open your cupboards and find stale food that hasn't been eaten? Are their products in your freezer that have been in there so long you can't remember where they came from? Guilty as charged. I try to take a bit of an inventory about once a month to see what I've got, what I haven't been using and what I need. If you consider the amount of food that is already in your home, you may be surprised at how much you can reduce your weekly costs.

I hope these tips for budgeting are somewhat helpful. They have sure helped me although I'm definitely not a pro and I go over budget more than I'd like to admit. Next week I will talk a bit about menu planning. Have a Thrifty Thursday!

Thrifty Thursday - Canned vs. Dried

Before I start my Thrifty Thursday idea, may I suggest you hop on over to Tereasa's blog to check out her idea for making homemade laundry and dishwasher detergent. I can't wait to try these.

I am recent convert to dried beans. I have always used canned beans before now. I had never really considered dried beans as an option really until I read a comparison of canned versus dried beans in a Cooking Light magazine.


I have found that using dried beans is WAY cheaper than canned beans. The cheapest I usually find for no name canned beans is about .60 when they are on sale. If you look at brand name beans when they are not on sale, they usually run anywhere from .99-1.49 per can. At least that's what I've found. To buy a 2 kg bag of dried beans is about 2.99-3.99.

Well, I used my genius on-the-spot mathematical abilities in the grocery store, and determined that one 2 kg bag of beans would be the equivalent of 10 or more cans. PLEASE do not ask me how I figured that out. I don't really do numbers, I'm a qualitative researcher, give me a break. To be honest, I pretty much just guessed.

Not convinced? Here's the thing...

1/2 cup of dried beans = 1 2/3 cups cooked beans = 1 16 oz can of beans.

Last night I went to Dollarama and bought a few containers to keep my dried beans, lentils, barley etc., in. These containers are 20 cup containers. When I poured what was left of my 2 kg bag of black beans, it filled the container about 3/4 of the way. Since I have been using these beans for about a month, I'd guess that had it been unopened it would fill the entire container.

Therefore, one can assume that a 2 kg bag of beans is about 20 cups uncooked, which would be 66 cups cooked and 40 cans. That's right!! 40 cans! I guess I underestimated the value when I guessed it would equal 10 cans.

So if one bag = 40 cans of beans, what does that cost? Based on 4.00/bag, it will cost you .10 per can! And that is a high estimate.

Confused yet? Okay, just trust me, it's cheaper!

Aside from the financial benefit of dried beans, there is also a health benefit. The article I mentioned earlier stated that dried beans contain 250-500 mg less sodium per serving than canned beans. Certainly you can reduce the sodium level of canned beans by thoroughly rinsing them, but there's no way you can get it all off.

The downfall of dried beans is that they require planning and time. You can't just quickly open a can and dump them in your soup, chilli, or whatever you're making. You need to soak the beans in water overnight, rinse them thoroughly and then cover them with at least 3 times their amount of water and boil for about 1 1/2 hours until they are soft. *Note: you may want to use an old pot or a dutchoven as I have found some beans (especially black) leave a residue on the pot that is very tough to scrub off). I have found if you are crockpotting, you can boil them less because they will cook and soften in the crockpot. Because you have to do these steps, it means you can't count on them when you're deciding what to eat at the last minute.

BUT... if you have freezer space, you can boil a whole lotta beans at one time and freeze them in whatever size portions you'd like. This makes them as quick and convenient as canned beans. And until I get really used to this dried bean thing I have been keeping a few cans on hand just in case. I have also been gradually adding to my bean stock. Each week I have been buying a new variety of beans so eventually I will have a full pantry of beans!

Beans, beans the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you .... nevermind. Happy Thrifty Thursday!

Thrifty Thursday - Reduced to Clear

Today I'm sharing an idea for thriftiness that is not necessarily new to me (nor will it be to many of you) but I am so excited about it this week. When you go to grocery store and you are in the produce aisle, always be sure to check out the reduced to clear rack. I used to steer clear of this rack because I would never want to be seen buying "rotten" fruits and vegetables. But now, this is the first place I go. More often than not, there are some really great buys there. Usually, the produce that is reduced is not completely and disgustingly rotten ... I'm pretty sure they wouldn't even try to sell that. Rather, I've found that they sometimes include produce that has fallen out of a package (i.e. loose apples that were meant to be sold in a 10 lb bag, grapefruit that was originally in a package) along with the items that are close to the end of their life and need a good home.

So here's what I'm going to start doing. When I get to the grocery store, I will go directly to the reduced to clear rack and 1) see if there is anything on there that was on my list to begin with and 2) see if there is anything on the rack that can replace something on my list. Say I have broccoli on my list because it's on sale for .99 but there is a cauliflower on the rack for .49 I will take that instead. Some weeks I'm sure I won't be able to find anything worth grabbing but other weeks (like this week, for example) I will score.

This week I found a package of 4 grapefruits that had no visible signs that they were bad for .59. They taste delicious and are absolutely not rotten. My breakfast for the week. I also found a package with one large field cucumber and 3 small zucchinis for .79. I made a cucumber salad the same night I went shopping (it didn't have much life left in it) and I roasted the zucchinis with some other veggies last night. I also got a huge package of grapes for .49 which my fabulous dude took to work to snack on.

All of that produce for less then 2.00 and I was most certainly able to use it all before any went bad.

Some other tips for reduced to clear produce:

- If you have a dehydrator you can dry many fruits and veggies that are at the end of their life to use in baking, snacks and soups.

- You can buy reduced to clear produce and if you can't use it right away, cook and freeze it for later use.

I think many people do not want to buy produce from this section because either they are too proud to (like I was in the past) or they are afraid it will all be too rotten. But I suggest you give it a try, you might find it's not so bad after all.

Have a thrifty Thursday! I won't be posting next week as it is Christmas day. I may (or may not) be back to regular posting on New Year's day, we'll see! Happy Holidays.