I took a job last summer 

and found that I had less and less time to devote to couponing.

On the advice of a friend I started shopping at Aldi and of course they do not accept coupons. I still go to Kroger for pet food and some dairy products (we don't care for Aldi's cheese) and we go to Dollar General for detergents and some paper products. There is an IGA a couple of miles away and we also shop there since their prices are comparable to the other major chain grocery stores. I like the fact that at IGA you aren't required to have a keytag to enjoy their savings and I like supporting local economy.

I left my job after Easter of this year and started substitute teaching. I have more time for couponing now, but we save so much money with our present system that I don't use as many coupons as before. I recommend Aldi to anyone wishing to slash their grocery budget. We don't spend an hour or more shopping for groceries anymore. I don't feel as though I've entered a time warp when I go into Aldi. You know the feeling...you go into a large store and it's as if you've entered a parallel universe where time is on a different continuum as you go up and down the aisles.

I've tried to do the whole CVS and Walgreens deals but I have to admit that it makes me so nervous trying to be sure I have the exact coupon and product and then do the deals in the correct order that it's worth it to me to shop at Dollar General where prices are low all the time. I know Wal-Mart says they are the lowest, but I beg to differ. Sometimes they are more expensive, and I don't care for the long lines at Wally World. I still remember how so many stores closed their doors after Wal-Mart came to town, especially craft and sewing stores. I now have to drive almost 30 minutes to the nearest fabric store. I go to Wal-Mart as a last resort. Pardon my rant.

 Getting Ready to Garden Again!

I'm excited about spring this year. Okay, I'm excited about spring every year!

We are adding to our SFG collection with a new veg garden. Our old herb/flower garden has become a strawberry bed and my son and I moved it to where it will receive more southern sun. With food prices going up we may add another veg garden as well. Busy summer! But these gardens are fun and not as much work after you get them going. I personally do not love weeding. I had a few weeds in my SFG veg garden last summer but that was because the STUPID WEEDS grew through my STUPID WEED CLOTH that was supposed to keep them out. These are very persistent weeds! So this year I'm going to put two or more layers down. And when this stuff is used up I resolve to spend a little more and get better quality weed cloth.

We've already got a list of plants we want to grow. And I've talked to a gardener friend of mine about how to avoid bean bugs. (She puts her beans out early so that when the bean bugs get there, hers are all harvested!)

Hey, it's almost time to plant lettuce!

Couponing After a Seminar

I was blessed to be able to attend a couponing seminar. My friends have helped me so much, but I wanted to add what I already know, so I paid my $10 and off I went. I learned more than I even expected! So now I use a box with envelopes for my coupons and go through every month or so to weed out the expired ones. This has helped a lot while shopping in the store. I take in less things (coupon box, re-usable bags, my list and the store mailer) and I find I'm saving even more, esp. if there is a big sale and I've had the time to order extra coupons.

I also keep a calculator, a pen, small scissors and an extra envelope (for days that I've forgotten my list that I make on the back of envelopes). I put a rubber band around the box and make sure I've got my info clearly visible inside.

I like this system for now b/c I can have as many topics as I like. I have canned foods subdivided into soups, for example. I have pet items divided between cats and dogs. I have personal items divided into toiletries, soap and shaving, fem, hair, make-up. It makes for more envelopes but this box can hold a LOT, and it makes it faster when going through the grocery store aisles. I was tired of the binder since I was having to go through it so often to make room for new coupons. I may go back to that eventually but the box works real well for me right now.

Square Foot Gardening

This year we abandoned the old garden spot that grew mostly weeds last year in favor of a new (to me) concept: Square Food Gardening. I found a book by Mel Bartholomew at the Dollar Gen. for $5! The more I read the more I liked it. Well, every year my husband begs for soil from my garden but I fuss b/c I need the soil for beans and tomatoes and such. Well, I got the idea to let him have all the soil from the "old" garden if he would help me build 2 SFG. The deal was accepted and we now have a veggie garden and a flower/herb garden! Pictures to follow!

Next I'm hoping to scrounge around in the cellar and find some wood we already have to make a second veggie garden: then we'd have one for eating and one for canning! I've got my garden out the earliest this year I ever have and I'm so pleased. We already have teeny tiny lettuce and carrot sprouts. The sunflowers have sprouted and I'm looking for bean seeds.

I recommend Square Foot Gardening b/c you have less weeds to contend with, you don't have to worry about how suitable your soil is for growing plants, it's smaller and feels more manageable and you have very high yield. After the initial work then each year you only add compost to your growing mix. It can be a fun and educational family project. My son enjoying putting in the screws for the garden frame and the cage/cover and my daughter enjoyed helping with the cage/cover (necessary to protect the future food from cats, rabbits, etc.

There are many links online. The main one is www.squarefootgardening.com

Couponing...again

I'm still doing couponing and I've taken it a step further - I now sort them by exp. date so it's easier to keep them up-to-date. I'm a shopper at a store that doubles coupons and sends out store coupons. Today I was able to "stack" 2 coupons for dog treats that my dogs love but usu. cost at least $3. I paid less than a dollar for the same treats today!

I was told about a new website by a friend: www.southernsavers.com. I love this website b/c I can find the deals for the store I shop at, make out a grocery list and have it matched to available coupons, and print it out! I've recommended this site to several friends and acquaintances.

I found a lot of ground turkey on a manager's special for $1.49/lb. I bought several packs and put them in our freezer. Some will be used for chili or tacos. My guys don't really care for turkey although my daughter likes it and will never tell. But with all the spices no one picks up on the fact that we are eating turkey instead of beef. I, personally, am a vegetarian but I still cook and serve meat for my family.

I've included pics of my coupon binder and some materials I keep in it. I keep a calculator with a cover, scissors, pens and a sorting mat in the front. My favorite thing to cut coupons out with is a Pampered Chef i-slice.

 Update

Since November of '08 Fred and I each lost a parent. Fred's mother passed away in a nursing home in Massachusetts in November. She'd had Alzheimer's so the family was sad, but not sorry that her suffering was over. Fred's family had the sweetest memorial service for her I think I've ever seen. Then in Feb. we lost my father very unexpectedly when a blood clot from his leg went to his lungs. He left us in his sleep which was merciful for him but so very hard for us. I am doing better from that, but some days are better than others. It's been hard to get back to the things I enjoy but Fred, my kids, and my good friends have been a tremendous help. You never realize how much some kindness and understanding mean until you go through something like this. My dad was one of my favorite people on earth and I enjoyed spending time with him and talking about fiddles, music, and almost anything else we thought of. I'm so glad that there is more to look forward to than just this life we have here and I have even more reason now to look forward to that. We should live our lives here so that we don't need to be afraid of what comes after we pass away from this life.

So from these experiences I'm taking the life lesson that yes, it's important to meet our life and our daily goals, but is what I'm doing going to be worth it in the long run? Are we taking time to enjoy our lives and especially our loved ones while we have our daily "to do" lists? When we lose someone, regrets can make dealing with the loss so much harder. So I'm learning to temper my goals with some ideas about making it more enjoyable for Fred and the kids, and myself. A special treat now and then, a movie matinee, a good book, a picnicm a special trip. These are things to remember.

Make time to make memories.

Re-visiting Coupons

I'm so thankful to my friends at our homeschool group for teaching me about couponing and shopping deals! (I should bake Carrie a pie!) The coupon moms have started trading our leftover coupon sections with one another each week, and we save even more money! I'll have to get with them over the summer. I'm sure we'll all miss those extra coupons! It will give us an excuse to keep up with one another over the summer. (Yay!)

I can walk right by products when the prices are aren't at their lowest price most of the time, unless we are completely out of whatever, and have to have it now. I've got about a year's worth of dish detergent and soap, and also my favorite shampoo and conditioner! It's been a sniffy winter so I have to keep buying tissues but we've cut back on paper towels. I don't buy paper napkins anymore since we have cloth napkins (not Fred's favorite thing but he puts up with it).

I find I'm buying more of the store brands and that knocks me out of using coupons on those products. (Unless I have one of my all-time favorite coupons that gives me dollars off my shopping trip at that store. :-) ) I still use lots of coupons of Walgreens! They have wonderful store coupons. They also have a great rebate program, but I only use it for items I would normally buy. I keep the receipts on my corkboard until I've received the rebate-that keeps me from misplacing them.

I'm learning to take adavantage of sales as they happen. I'm already way ahead on Valentine and Easter candy!

We don't have to be depressed about a recession: we can use knowledge like this at times of economic hardship and feel empowered. Go coupons queens and kings! Sale on!

Vacations on a Budget

You can still travel and take vacations when you are on a budget, just remember to cut expenses where you can. We go to visit Fred's family every once in a while and we drive to save money. Of course, with gas so expensive, I had to wonder, but it's still cheaper for us to drive. We were able to take our two dogs with us, so that's less for me to worry about with them at home and us not there. We have wonderful neighbors who took care of our cats and kept us updated on things in Tennessee.

  
 




























We go to low-cost motels which are still nice. Most motels offer a free continental breakfast so take advantage of that if you aren't having to watch your diet. Sometimes they will have fruit available but it's mostly high-carb food.


We stayed at a motel that has a kitchenette and we cooked some meals at the motel and ate in. Restaurant food is expensive, and while we still ate out a few times, this really helped us out.


We packed snack and sandwich foods in coolers and boxes, so that kept down expenses while traveling. It helped us on our time, too. Our lunch only took as long as it took us to make sandwiches, eat and then clean up. Much healthier than fast food. Not to say that we ate no fast food at all. But we kept that to a minimum so that it was a treat, which is what fast food should be in my opinion.

















We skipped amusement parks, but we did splurge on a train ride into Boston and a trolley tour of the city. How often are kids from Tennessee going to be able to ride a train anywhere? So our kids have that experience now, of reading train schedules and helping to figure out which train we need and how long we have to wait. The trolley tour was wonderful - great lessons in history. Since we home school I counted that for a school day: Field Trip! We learned stuff that not even Fred and I knew - and he's from that area of Massachusetts! It was great. I highly recommend the Old Town Trolley Tours (orange trolleys) in Boston. Not cheap-but worth every penny.

We only charged our hotel stay, everything else was paid for by cash or our debit card which helped us keep our bills to the lowest amount we probably ever charged. We were so fortunate with the timing. Gas stayed reasonable until the afternoon we got home and then the hurricane had everyone scrambling and gas running low at the stations. I was so glad that didn't happen while we were away from home.

 Fun with a Camera

You can have a lot of fun with your camera and it doesn't have to cost much at all. Our camera is a simple Kodak EasyShare that we got on vacation in Chattanooga one year when we were privileged to go. We had a great time visiting the aquariums and riding on the riverboat there. I love Chattanooga.

You can publish your photos in several places online so your family can see them. At this point I only print out the ones we really want to keep or send to a relative with no computer or online access.

Hope you enjoy these pics as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Knitting and Spinning

Can you tell I learned how to upload pics to my blog today? :-)

Knitting and spinning are great ways to make gifts for others. They seem old-fashioned but are fascinating ways to spend your time.

I taught myself to knit 3 or 4 years ago. I love it. It's so calming and orderly. I feel connected to all the other women through the years who have knitted while I'm working with the yarn and needles. My favorite book that helped me after I learned the basics is "Stitch and Bitch" by Debbie Stoller. Interesting title, but a very informative book.

I started out with a Bond Sweater Machine, which was a lot of fun. The sweaters in the pictures were knitted on that machine. I learned a lot, esp. how to correct dropped stitches. To this day, if I drop a stitch and don't find it for several rows I never panic. I just pull out a crochet hook and hook them all back up.

I wanted to learn to knit by hand, though, so I kept working at that. It was so difficult for me to learn how to switch from knit to purl in the same row that I will drop everything to teach someone else how. The first items I knit by hand were dishcloths. I still have many of them and use them!

Spinning just happened to us. We were at The Lenoir Museum and saw a demonstration of spinning with a drop spindle. I bought one and it came with a small amt. of wool. We played around with that for a couple of years. Then I found a group that learns to spin at a library near us. My son and I went and had a great time. We learned about a larger group, The Tennessee Valley Handspinners. We go to their meetings as often as we can. I got a small charka loom and I'm trying to get replacement belts for it. (Not easy.) I'll get a picture of it up when I can.

 Composting

Composting is not that hard. I've seen ads for expensive composters but we are doing it the simple way. We keep a small pail with a lid in the kitchen. All our veg scraps go in, along with fruit peels, coffee grounds, egg shells and believe it or not, dryer lint! Every day or 2 (or for as long as he can get away with) our son takes all this out to a far corner of the yard and dumps it. (We live in a rural area so it isn't close to another house, not even that close to ours. Plus a well-kept compost pile has little or no odor.) Every few days it is supposed to get turned. I know it's doing well because underneath there are red worms hard at work. In the fall we want the compost to help us start a strawberry bed!

Keep meat and milk products out of your compost pile so it won't draw animals.

I thought we'd have a huge pile by now but it breaks down quite a bit really. We don't have as much stuff there as I'd expected.

In a few weeks I plan to load it in the wheelbarrow and add it to our garden. Then we'll start all over!

 Earth-friendly Cleansers

I no longer buy commercial cleaners. I do get laundry stain treatment, but I deleted cleaners from the pantry list I shop by. I've found that baking soda, vinegar, soap and water are excellent cleaners.

Baking soda and vinegar are so versatile! For windows and mirrors I combine vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray on the surface. I rarely buy paper towels anymore so we use old microfiber cloths or newspapers to dry. For counters, just wet them down and sprinkle with some baking soda and rub in as a paste. Then wipe off with a wet cloth. I use baking soda and water for the bathroom sinks and counters as well.

For soap scum in the sinks and tubs I use an idea from Flylady.com. Rub the soap you normally use onto a scrubbing sponge. With a little elbow grease and water for rinsing, your tub and sink will sparkle.

The Tightwad Gazette has several recipes for earth-friendly cleansers if you want to take this a step further. Lots of great ideas there!

Redecorating Time in Tennessee!

You can see pictures of our kitchen project. The green is the color we want it to be.

I got distracted with raising the kids and didn't notice how shabby our house was looking for a long time, until one day I was shocked to see that we hadn't done anything to our house in years! Paint is the most cost-effective way to redecorate, so I started planning and getting enthusiastic about this new project.

My m-i-l papered the walls of the kitchen when she lived here (before Fred and I met and married) and did a great job. Then we papered over that during the first year of our marriage. Now I wish we'd peeled off that first layer of wallpaper and painted. We got a crack in the wall from the house settling and it tore right through the wallpaper (not pictured).

Well, the paper we put on comes off easily enough, but my dear m-i-l must have used the glue that you brush onto the paper because this stuff is really tough to get off the wall. We use lots of hot water and Diff, a pirhana, sponges, putty knives and a scrubby sponge and it's still a real job! It's cheaper than hiring it done, but since we don't have a lot of time each day to devote to this it's taking much longer than expected. Hopefully this is the toughest room and the rest of the wallpaper will come down much more easily. We still have one room and a hall to do. Papering over a layer of existing wallpaper is highlighted in my memory as "things I wish we didn't do".

Canning Project!

Here you can see some of the food we canned this summer. It was not as hard as I'd expected it to be, but I was so glad to have help from my kids!

 Washing Plastic Bags

Before I started washing plastic bags I thought "What a waste of time!" Now, when I see someone throw away a bag used only once I think, "What a waste of money!"

I mostly wash zip-type bags. We just wash the bags when we do dishes. I swish the soapy water in each bag, then rinse. If there is peanut butter or something sticky on them, then I'll wipe them out real well. It can help to turn them inside-out. We put them upside-down to dry. I have a bread-slicing guide that is perfect for that job, or you can do like a friend of mine and use an umbrella-type hanging dryer.

I do not re-use bags that have held meat - I don't think the bags get really clean after that.


Since I've started washing bags, I buy them much less often than I used to. I buy zipper sandwich bags for our lunches and re-use them instead of using plastic sandwich holders. The sandwiches in bags take up less room in the lunchboxes.

I also re-use bread and bagel bags. I use them to hold portions of zucchini to freeze. I drop these portioned bags into a freezer bag. I also use bread and bagel bags for the dogs' waste on our walks. They are smaller than grocery store bags and take up less room in the trash.

Another useful type of bag to wash and re-use are cereal bags. These are wonderful for keeping your counters clean when make bread or biscuits. Cut off the closed end of a clean, dry cereal bag. Next you cut or split the bag down the seam and open it out. I grab one when I measure flour or knead or cut dough. They are great when you are making out hamburger patties. After using these bags with raw meat I toss them.When measuring flour on the cereal bag I use it to pour the flour back into the flour bag. I got the idea from re-using cereal bags from a home schooling friend who leads a home school 4-H group!

These are just a few more ways we reduce, re-use and recycle at our house. It cuts down on our expenses because I'm not buying plastic bags as often, and we are getting more use out of items that we used to just throw in the trash. Less waste for the landfills!

Decluttering on a Major Scale

For me it was FLYlady, then I was given the book "It's All Too Much". Finally I am able to feel like I've gained control over the clutter that had grown around us. (My husband, who gave me the book,"It's All Too Much," says from now on he'll only buy me joke books because he had to make so many trips to the dump and recycling center! True story!)

The hardest items to let go were the things I would never use that I'd been given by people I love, some of whom have passed on. To get rid of them seemed wrong, somehow. Some were from 10-20 years ago, but I still felt I had to hold on to them. In the book "It's All Too Much" I read that we don't need "things" to keep memories alive, and that helped me to release a lot of items to go to new homes where they'll be honored and appreciated. I still treasure the people and memories I have, but let's face it: we all have limited display and storage space.

I sorted items into three boxes: keep, donate, and trash. I used the "one year" rule. If we hadn't used an item in a year then it went into the "toss" or "donate" piles. I couldn't believe the things I came across that we hadn't used in several years!

It turns out that the more things I let go the easier it got. Out of all the things I let go, I only needed to replace one kitchen item. It felt so good after it was over. Our house is much easier to clean after that and has a more peaceful air. The space that is left is very calming. I love looking at a room after I've decluttered it and straightened it up!

 No Whining

With all the conserving of energy and money that we're doing at our house you might wonder about our attitudes. I'm very proud to say that we are a "no whining" family.

Not all the changes we've made are easy or fun, but I'm taking it as a personal challenge to see how low I can get our spending. Luckily, the whole family is on the same page. We are all excited to see our spending go down, down, down. It's already making a difference. Of course, if gas and groceries weren't so high, it would be making much more of a difference!

A few years ago, the current economy would have seen me throwing a huge pity party. With the knowledge that I have now, I know that I still have many choices and it doesn't seem like we're doing without anything. I think the word "choice" is the key.

The kids don't feel as if they are doing without either. They are still getting things they like from the sales we see.

My husband is glad we are saving more money. I hated that we were spending all or more than he made. It was unnerving, knowing that we were just a payday or so from being in real financial trouble. Our savings is going up at a good pace, and that makes us all feel SO much better!

It's the time of year for home school resource fairs and early curriculum planning, so we still must spend on that. Yes, it's possible to home school on a shoestring budget, but with a high school student I want to make sure she gets a great education. I've been tracking down good, used curriculum as well as offering some of our used curriculum for sale so that has helped.

The point I'm getting at is that we are still able to supply our material needs less expensively so that no one is "feeling poor." Wealth is truly a state of mind.

 Saving Gas by Hypermiling

I'm all about getting good gas mileage these days. I drive a van, so there's a limit to how much I can save, but I've stumbled across a cool way to improve gas mileage, no matter what you happen to be driving. Hypermiling mimics your vehicle's cruise control by applying gas as needed to go uphill and coasting downhill. Basically you're taking advantage of gravity. There are several websites devoted to hypermiling, but beware of those that advise unsafe practices such as drafting or driving while in neutral.

Speeding, and sudden starts and stops will lower your gas mileage, sometimes dramatically. Most of us already know that, but I'm learning to gauge hills to see how much gas I'll really need to crest it, then I let gravity take over. It's a good idea to keep your brake covered. I've been surprised at how often I've been applying gas when I could actually let my van's weight pull itself down a hill. I've seen a difference in my gas mileage. Normally when I'm running the A/C, it goes down quite a bit, but I've not seen a big difference at all this year! I still wish gas prices would go down, but at least I can squeeze a few more miles out of each gallon.

All the advice telling you to walk when you can, or ride a bike, and take public transportation when possible is great, but what about when you live in a rural area where there are no sidewalks, no public transportation, and the roads aren't safe at all for biking? Some people have no choice but to drive, like the area I live in. I would walk or take public transportation if I could, but it's not an option for my area.

What do you do to save money on transportation?

 Conserving Water

There are so many parts of our country and our world that suffer from drought that we should all conserve water as much as possible. In some areas, water is a precious resource, the people there would give a lot just to have the water we waste in one day.


Repairing leaky faucets and toilets is a no-brainer but how much further can we go?

Do you remember to turn off the water when you aren't really using it? Do you turn off the water when you brush your teeth, or scrub dishes?

I'm pricing low-flow shower heads. We already try to limit our time in the shower but this will help reduce our water waste even more. There are also low-flow adapters for faucets.


I'd love to have a grey-water tank for watering the garden and plants but that might push my husband over the edge!


One thing I do is keep an old plastic pitcher on the counter for "old" water. All glasses of water not drunk up are poured into the pitcher. I water the houseplants with this, and haven't had to "run" water for my plants in some time!


I got this idea from a friend: Use dishtubs for washing your dishes. When you are finished, pour the water on your garden or plants outside.


We adjusted our toilets until they use just enough water to flush. I added water bottles filled with sand to the tanks, and we set the floaters to the right level (not too low and not too high!)

When we save water we save money, but we are also helping ourselves and our "neighbors" on the earth.

Home made Laundry Soap Link

 
http://www.thefrugalshopper.com/articles/detergent.shtml

There are several recipes you can use on this site. Recipe #3 is most like the recipe I use. I don't use Fels Naphtha soap which is recommended on the site, but I do use Octagon. I like the way it rinses clean. Plus it's old-fashioned and versatile. My kids don't really like to use the home-made stuff on their clothes. For some reason it breaks them out and makes them itch. It doesn't seem to bother them on the sheets and towels though, for which I am thankful. I use the home-made stuff for all my clothes and the sheets, towels and rags.