Freezer Meals- A First Try

After being asked to cook a freezer meal for a new mom, I came across the Happy Money Saver blog for 50 freezer meals in a day.  I decided to give it a try.  Since it is the first of the month and the beginning of summer break it seemed like a good time to test it out.
This is what I ended up with:

• 1 pan of chicken enchiladas
• 2 bags of beef barley stew ready for the crock pot
• 2 bags of honey glazed pork chops ready for the grill
• 7 twice baked potatoes (one half failed to make it)
• 2 chicken pot pies (one became tonight's dinner)
• 2 dinners of beef for sandwiches similar to this recipe for french dip sandwiches
• 4 chicken burritos with chicken, Spanish rice, and cheese individually wrapped in waxed paper to be microwaved 
• 2 bags of dough for pizza

I still have a pork roast to cook tomorrow for BBQ sandwiches.  I already froze one meatloaf this week and one chicken tetrazzini.  

I will need to figure out what I spent but for a few meals that are already stocked and ready to go, it was worth it.

And thankfully my husband cleaned up most of the kitchen while I was working.

I started out this morning by cooking the potatoes while I was cooking sausage balls for breakfast Sunday at church.  It was exactly the amount of time to cook breakfast as was needed to cook my potatoes.  Then I put 6 chicken breast in the crock pot with salt and pepper and two beef roast into the oven with a can of coke at 200 degrees before church.  They cooked about 6 hours and were done when we got home for lunch (yes, we ate out right before my cooking marathon).  I also started the pizza dough first thing so I could let it rise twice.  When I got home, I divided the pizza dough into two portions and got it into the freezer.  (By the way, my husband also had to clean out the freezer for me.  With a side by wide freezer, this was tricking getting everything in plus the freezer items we already had.)  

After lunch, I let the meat cool and start assembling one recipe at a time.  It probably took me 4 hours to complete everything.

I am way excited and hoping this will decrease the amount we eat out over the next few weeks.  We will still have breakfast for dinner one night and probably eat out once a week, but I certainly do not have an excuse to eat out for a few weeks!

I tried it! Coupon Mom- Preparing for the Grocery Store!

In preparing for my grocery trip today (I hate going to the grocery store) I tried out Coupon Mom via recommendation of Betsy. I also resorted back to an old site, Menus4Moms to get some inspiration for dinner this week. I did not get to fully investigate Coupon Mom, but I did find some good coupons to print. Her free ebook about cutting your grocery bill in half looked promising, but I did not have time to read it during my prep time. Menu4Moms is great since the grocery list and recipes are all ready for you. I did not resubscribe, but went to their archived lists and selected a menu with all food items I would eat. I then gathered up my cut coupons from other weeks and pulled all the coupons before I left the house. While it did take less time at the store, overall, it all takes a lot of time to shop with coupons. But hey--- I did save over $20 using coupons, plus I went to Walmart and bought all my packaged goods so overall, I probably saved more than my typical trip to Publix. I will go to Publix tomorrow to get my meat and the local produce stand for produce. A lot of trips, but saving the money is worth it!

Sugar Scrubs

Our moms group had a Pamper Night tonight and one of the events was a make and take of sugar and salt scrubs. So many of the woman did not realize how easy it is to make scrubs!

The most popular, but my recommendation, was brown sugar coffee scrub. The trick- don't stick to a recipe. Just mix what you think will be good. There is no set formula. Good oils to use are olive, safflower, sunflower, almond, jojoba, light vegetable (the most affordable) and/or a combination of all the above.

Here is a recipe I use for a brown sugar coffee scrub:
1/2 cup coffee
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 tablespoons baking soda
1/2 tsp vitamin e oil
2-4 tablespoons oil (mix until the consistency you want- it should stick together at least a little)

Mix all together. Let sit overnight. Slather on before a bath or before you start the shower.
Caution: the bathtub/shower may be slippery!

This saves a fortune compared to purchasing premade products. Also, you know what is in it! I put mine in small kitchen containers with a tight lid- use plastic in the bathroom!

Consumer Reports Money Saving Websites

I was in Walmart today waiting forever for the cashier to get a customer out of the way (typical Walmart), and I looked over and saw the Consumer Reports magazine. They had some money saving websites listed that sounded really interesting. Not wanting to spend the $4.99 on the magazine for the list of sites, I was hoping someone had posted them...
and someone did. Check here for the cool money saving sites.

The Ultimate Way to Save Money

I am joining Vicki on her Frugal Friday journey again this week on the ultimate money saving tip.

The ultimate tip to save money is to actually SAVE IT! You cannot save money any better than designating a portion of your income to savings. You can cut coupons, buy in bulk, and find all sorts of ways not to spend money on things you buy everyday, but if you do not turn around and save that money, you will just go and spend it on something else.

A good goal to shoot for is 10% of your income goes directly into savings every time you get paid- whether it is through a regular pay check, by the job, or by the month. If you do not make it automatic, it will be easier to find a way to spend it. I have my bank account set up to transfer money out the day I get paid. I never see it. I also set up an online account without access to a debit card so I really have to think before I spend the savings. You can set up an entire account without leaving your home. And the rates are not bad, sometimes better than your local banks (check for fees before you start- CitiBank is a great option). I easily transfer into my main household account, but it takes more than swiping a card.

This summer, when vacation time came around, we had some money saved and did not go into debt going on a trip. (My kids and nieces this summer on vacation.)

And right now is a great time to start savings for next year's Christmas gifts. Think of the relief you will feel when you don't have to figure out how you are going to purchase the gifts or use the credit card!

My ultimate tip to save money- open a savings account and use it!

Frugal Fridays

I am participating with Vicki in her Frugal Fridays blog carnival. This week is your all time favorite frugal tip! My favorite frugal tip has been making my own laundry detergent.

Using some simple recipes, I selected a recipe I liked that included a bar of laundry soap, borax, and washing soda. I used some hot water, a large 2.5 gallon bucket, and a few drops of essential oil. All together, the entire box of borax was around $2.50, the washing soda the same, the laundry soap bar was around $1 at Big Lots. I only used about 1/50th of the borax and maybe 1/25th of the washing soda, so all together, it probably cost $2.00 to make approximately enough soap for 60 loads!

Now my dear friend asks me why I would waste the time making laundry soap when it is not too expensive to buy.

My response:
1. CHEMICALS I know what is in my soap and it is not chemicals.
2. It cleans better- even hubby noticed when I temporarily switched back to store bought soap when I did not have time to whip up the recipe (or the energy, even though it takes 10 minutes to cook, 1 hour or so to cool... the hardest part is getting it into containers, but you can just leave it in the bucket and cover it!).
3. WHY not?? The money saved compared to name brands is significant for a family that does a lot of laundry.
4. At $.03 a load, I think it is worth it!

I would encourage you to try making laundry soap just one time--- you are not committed to a life long journey of making your own soap- but you may just decide you like it!

And here are some more tips I have for saving money.

Homemade Laundry Detergent- It Works!

I FINALLY made the homemade laundry detergent. I have an HE washer, and it seems to work well. Of course, I was putting most all of the ingredients in there anyway! I saved three of the old laundry detergent (ultra liquid) containers, and filled all three PLUS I still had half a bucket full. I just kept it in there and scooped it out, although a milk jug would be good too. I use as much as recommended by my laundry machine manufacturer in the soap dispenser and did not add fabric softener. AND I hang my clothes to dry. They were still soft and CLEAN!

This is the recipe I used:

Recipe #3

Hot water
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/3 bar Soap (grated)

• In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.
• In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.
• Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (will gel).

I chose this one because I wanted to see it gel (and it did!) and it did not seem to make an atrocious amount. I also added 10 drops of Phthalate Free Fragrance Oil in Clothesline Fresh from GoPlanetEarth.com. I probably should have added more, but there is a subtle scent.

Altogether, this had to of costs not more than $2.00 for all of it. And there is a lot! Let me know if you try it!

Cool Reusable Shopping Bags

My addiction to great handbags has flowed into an addiction to great reusable shopping bags... how life changes.

I found these through my friends Homeschool Diva website through a recommendation for a going green tip site. You can buy them individually or as a set in one pouch. Too cute! And so much better than the grocery store brand (plus they take up less space in the cart!). Check them out.

P.S. Join the Ideal Bite and get free shipping on these great bags from Ecoist!

And pat yourself on the back for saving the plastic!

Saving Money with Coupons

Last weekend, I was given a coupon for a local craft store that was for today, only between 4-8 pm. It was for 25% off anything and everything in the store. Now while that is not much, I would have bought some of the items anyway, so it was a good deal. I saved $15! Whoo hoo! Of course, they also offered a 40% off one item coupon and I was planning to use both. This one cashier (who is never very nice) said "One coupon per day per customer... and they are very strict on that rule." So my hubby became another customer and bought that item for me... a savings of $7.

There are always ways around it, right!?

Hilary Swank was on Opera or something one time and was asked why she uses coupons (she self reported that she cuts coupons weekly)--- she said something like it was like looking money in the face and flushing it down the toilet.

I need to be better at looking at coupons each week!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

In my quest to minimize expenses and find product that are less harsh on the environment, I found TipNut with great recipes for homemade laundry detergent.

I was already to make some today, but then found a new container of store bought soap. So not to waste, I am going to use that up first. Then I will let you know how it goes. If you try it, let me know. You will not only save money (they are all super cheap ingredients), you will help then environment by limiting the amount of chemical agents that go into the earth, and limiting the use of plastics for the containers of the products (reuse those ones you have as many times as you can or leave it in a covered bucket).

And I am still hanging clothes on the line, which is a challenge with daily rain showers, but I am trying my best. I still have not fixed the dryer.

Buy In Bulk, Save More than Money!

We were in another city yesterday that fortunately has a Sam's Club. While we do not always save great amounts of money on the products, we usually save some. But what is better is you save on packaging for the products (because you are not buying all those little packages all wrapped individually). We bought in bulk things like baking soda and crackers, that came in larger packages, but overall less waste. Not to mention Sam's does not bag your groceries and uses the cardboard boxes, all good for the environment too! And we do save some money on the purchases...

All around, a good deal!

Saving Money Around the Home

Over the course of the next weeks, months, year, I am going to make an effort to document how I have changed the habits of my home to save money, be a little "greener", and find alternatives to the high priced living that we have become accustomed to. I have already made some simple changes that have made an impact, like the goal to recycle this year. We are amazed at the amount of items that we are now recycling that were thrown in the garbage. That has not saved me any money per se, but the fact that I am trying to reduce the amount of prepackaged foods and drinks that I consume has saved me money. Buying a simple water container at Target for $1 saves me $1 every time I use it. It pays for itself in just one use! Join me in finding was to save money with your family.