Are you ready for 2011?

I know, I know....I have been gone for 10 months! My family life got priority over the blogs, but now I'm back and ready to get on with the new year. I'm looking forward to helping you save in 2011!!

Organic Foods

For those that think you can't buy organic food on a budget.....think again!

I have several organic food stores in my area, but my favorite is Whole Foods. They have regular sales and great prices!

Today I stopped by and got an organic pizza for $4.99, a bag of organic potato chips for $2.00, and a box of organic blueberry waffles for $2.69! The best part.....it's all healthy for me!

So, next time you're out and about and see an organic food store, check it out.

You just may find some great deals....and great food!

Happy Saving!

Working on January Totals

I'm currently working on my January totals for the sidebar. I should have them up by the end of the week.

I'm very impressed that I didn't purchase any coupons last month via the Sunday paper. I have some family and friends that gave me their coupons. I'm working on some more sources (like neighbors and friends from church) to get more coupons without spending money. I don't use the printable coupon sources too much, since my local Target and one of my main grocery stores doesn't accept them.

I will post the January numbers soon.

Happy Saving!

February Giveaway........

Ok....since I have been 'laying around' the last few days (not by choice!), I have put a lot of thought into what to give away in February,



And what did I choose??????



COUPONS!!



They are very valuable to the frugal shopper so I have decided to give some away. I have gone through my coupon box and have chosen about $100 worth of coupons from the Sunday paper to give away.



They include:



food items, cleaning supplies, air fresheners, toiletries, and more.



So, all you have to do to be entered into this contest is leave a comment on this post! That's it!!



I will use Random Generator next Friday to pick a winner!



Good luck!!

February!!

Wow.....it's the first of February......where did January go?

Sorry I have been MIA the last week. My son was sick and now I'm sick. I spent the last two days in bed. My husband graciously took care of our son while I was at the worst of this illness.

So, now that I'm on the mend and don't feel like a mack truck has run over me...I will be posting again!

Have a great start to February...and Happy Saving!!

Grow Your Own.......

A great way to save money is to grow your own! We live on 1/10th of an acre....if you are doing the math right now you will find that with the house it leaves very little land! So, how do we do it? We use the space we have and use it well!!

These are the 50 oranges I took off our tree today. It is in one of the 4 corners of our backyard to save space!

We grew cucumbers next to the fence that grew up on lattice we attached to the fence.

Blueberries next to the fence as well!

Yellow squash next to the fence! This stuff grows wild...so we found out real quick that we needed to trim the big leaves as often as possible.

Green Peppers in hanging planters...you know the upside down planters that are sold just about everywhere now? We have been using these for about 3 years now!

Tomatos in the upside down hanging planters.

This is my favorite....Corn! Yes, we grew corn in a residential community! This is actually a bath tub that someone had in their spare bath and was hardly ever used. They took it out and asked if we wanted it. We thought it would fit in our bathroom, but we were wrong, so we decided to use it to grow something. It worked out great for the corn.

If you look beyond the corn you will see the green hanging planters, and a little beyond that you will see the orange tree.

The strawberries are in hanging planters, and the chives are in little pots.

And all of that was on one side of our back year! We still have the middle and other side free for the dogs to roam! Umm....you will need to put some netting or fencing up to keep the dogs out of the garden...we found this out the hard way!

Soooo.......I have proven that you do not need a huge yard to grow fruits and veggies to save money. We have been doing it for 3 years and have saved so much money.

And, we all come together as a family to help plant, grow, and harvest the food. It is such a wonderful experience!

Happy Saving!!

Cutting Coupons....Are They Worth It?

OK.....there are still some people out there that think it's not worth sitting down and cutting out coupons. I know....I was like that once too! Then I read stories about people saving so much money with them.

Really, it takes about 1/2 an hour to cut them out and sort them every week. I sometimes enlist my son to help when he says he's bored!

Living in a state that doesn't double coupon, I don't save LOADS of money every week with them. I do save $10 to $15 a week though. And with 52 weeks in a year, that's more than $500 saved a year just for cutting those little strips of paper!

I think $500 is worth it!!

Happy Saving!

Make It Monday

Welcome to another 'Make It Monday'!!


Today I'm going to show you something that saves me lots of money.....laundry detergent!


The cost has sky rocketed over the last several years and I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices these companies charge. Now, every once in a while (about once or twice a year) I find it on clearance or at a really good sale price with coupon, so I will a buy a bottle or two as a back up. It has come in handy when my husband wanted to surprise me one day by doing the laundry and he had regular detergent to use. But, normally I use my home made version.


There are 2 different kinds to make...the dry and the liquid. I like the liquid, but it's a little messy to make, and takes longer to make. Today I will show you the dry detergent.


What you will need is:


2 cups Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 bar (grated with a cheese grater) of soap (Fels-Naptha, Ivory, Dove)**






Ok, so in a container you want to store it in, combine the 3 ingredients, close the lid and shake it up for a minute or two to mix it all up. Now....your done! See how easy that is!! It takes me less than 10 minutes from the time I start to the time I finish cleaning up!



On the left is my laundry detergent. I make it once every other month. I usually make 2 batches at once since it's so easy. If I had a bigger container I would make six months worth at a time! It doesn't take that long to make.

I use 1/4 cup (I use a small measuring cup) of detergent for each wash. Depending on your washing machine, you may have to use more or less detergent. For my dogs blankets and toys, I use 1/2 cup to get that nasty dog smell out. With 4 dogs....they get kind of smelly!



**The Soap - I have heard that the Fels-Naptha is really good for laundry detergent, but I can't find it in my area. I have used Ivory which works, but doesn't always dissolve well. I have also used Dove, which is my favorite, and gives the clothes a clean fresh smell. **



So, I hope you find this useful. I have saved so much money making my own detergent, and wouldn't go back to using regular detergent unless they brought the prices back down to where they were several years ago.

Happy Saving!!