Free Perfume

Sorry it has been a while.  I got caught up in the Christmas frenzy and loved it.

Lots of ads and deals in the Sunday paper this time of year.  Here is a picture of some of the free perfume samples I received.  I don't wear perfume all the time, but I will have enough to last me 6 mo to a year

High Value Coupons

The High Value coupons really made a difference

Problem...fixed

Umm problem?
Fixed with 3 rows of Shampoo and conditioner.  About a buck a bottle.

See that Gap?

All better

Advent Calendar 2

Dec 1st I gave my son the Advent Calendar
He loved it

Fill with candy (Halloween) and coins

Glued tissue paper to the front

Numbered it

Day 1

O M G

Just let the pictures do the talking.
Look at all that meat.
Chicken on the SELL BY date not Expiration date
Chicken .40 pound
Pork 1.27 lb
$ 7.24 of meat
I can make 7 meals for my family of 3.  Approx  $1.03 of meat per meal.

Hot Cocoa Mix...Again

I have posted about this before
But it is that time of year for Hot Chocolate.
I make my own mix
And it is great as a gift!
My recipe:
2 cp Nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup sugar (or Splenda)
1/2 cp Hershey's cocoa (Or store brand)
1/2 cp Powdered Nondairy creamer
dash salt
Mix, store in air tight container

1/4 cocoa to 3/4 hot water
make about 15 6oz servings, but really now, who has 6 oz of hot cocoa?

Cost for me 1.62 for the batch

Advent Calendar

Ah Toilet Paper Rolls
Making Advent calendar for son.  
Inside will be coins or candy (Halloween candy)

Cut rolls in half.  Made star from strips of one roll. Glued together in shape of tree.

Scrap paper for backing

Painted star gold and tree green.

Will fill with goodies and have green tissue paper on front.

chips

Make your own
.99 cents for pitas
Cut, olive oil, salt
Bake.
Yumm

This is just two Pitas

When you are Frugal

When you are frugal, and others know it
They give you stuff.
Woo Hoo.  Free stuff.
Looky what I got.

Cheap Chicken

Chicken for 1.19 a lb.
Yes please
Depending how I prepare the chicken, I can get 2 possibly 3 meals from this
If I get 3 meals, it would be about $1.45 of meat per meal.

This post was written Nov 4th.  So the meat was not expired or past sell by date .

The Dark Side

I have crossed over to...
Cheapskate instead of frugal.
Shower curtain...
To begin with, it is probably from the dollar store.
I wash my shower curtain in the washer and just put it back up to dry.
I get annoyed having to loop it back on.
Well, this one had ripped a couple of the holes.
Did I spend a dollar on a new one? Nope.
I used packing tape to fix the rips.
Well, I didn't have to take it down and rehang one, so I saved myself a dollar and time and aggravation.
Cheap I tell ya

Hard to tell, but yep, packing tape around the hole and new hole punch in.

 

Craft Show

Craft Show
Sat Nov 1 2014
Barley Sheaf Theater
Lionville, PA

Fall projects/Craft show prep

Just a sneak peak at what I am up to.
I am making ornaments for a craft show
And fall decor for me
Stayed tuned

It is that time of year....

No, not just for crafts,
but for looking at our bills to see where we can save.
I switch Electric companies for 20.00 per month saving.
And switched cable companies for 40.00 per month saving.
But only for a year, must check back in or the bills will automatically go up.

So 60.00 a month for 12 months.
720.00 yearly savings.

Hair

Back in June I bought hair dye from a the clearance rack and used coupon.
I finally got around to doing my 'doo.
I trimmed off about an inch.
And dyed the hair, no more gray.
Oh, and now I have red/auburn hair

School Project or should we get a color printer?

Debate in my house...I want a color printer.
Hubby says not worth it.
I think he "May" be right (this time)
Can't beat the convenience of having one, but the ink....expensive.
So I am tracking what I spend on color printing..so far 1.00 for this project and I think 1.00 for another one.

Pretty good looking Food Web isn't it?

Meat 3

So, I went back to the store and chatted with another butcher.
I asked him to check to see if the meat I chose could be marked down.
He didn't really want to do it. But lo and behold, the scanner/computer thingy did mark it down.
I was grateful, complimented him and mentioned this is why I came back to this store.
 I had 4 gourmet burgers for about .70 each.  They were delicious.
And pretty big, very thick.
Hubby and child raved!

The other package was a tad more.  Mmmm, Bacon and Steak Burgers

meat 2/frugal dinner

The Nature Made chicken turned into this...
Chicken tenders/fingers.
Yummy.
Made some rice to go with it.
Frugal dinner.
Chicken 2.21
Egg, flour, beadcrumbs less than .50
rice .25
drinks (Ice water)
Less than 3.00
Served three and leftover (For lunch the next day)
I'd guess about .75 per serving

Meat

Meat, getting more and more expensive.
Even the "cheap cuts" aren't that cheap anymore
I chatted with the butcher at my grocery store and he told me when they do the mark downs.
Beef, 1 day before the sell by
Pork and Chicken 2 days before the sell by
Here is what I got today

Seasoned Pork Tenderloin 2.72.  Wow

and Nature's Promise, from 9.00 to 6.00 down to 2.21.  Yes please.

over budget

I needed a rug by my sliding glass doors.  Up until now, I have been using a towel on and off.
I spent $1.78.  Not bad, but I had hoped for a dollar or under.
I chose to go over budget because I felt that something better quality and that I liked better was worth it.
15% off, then 10.00 coupon.

More Free

Used a coupon.
Got 2 candles free.
They go into my gift drawer (Or I might enjoy one).
Great for teacher's gift, housewarming gift, hostess gift.

Frugal Fall Decor

This project cost me .50 cents
I paid a quarter for the each metallic Sharpie, gold and silver
Acorns...FREE

What is That?

"What is that?" you may ask
Well, it is orange peels in Vinegar.
Let them soak in there for a couple weeks, take them out, transfer to spray bottle.
And now I have a cleaner with orange oil and it smells, well not too bad.

FREE

I am torn between rewarding a child just for doing what they should be doing or getting something FREE.
Free won out this time.  Books, love books.  Love my FREE library.
Anyway...
We participated in Barnes and Noble's summer reading program again this summer. 
My son got a FREE book just for reading 10 books.
He also received 10 dollars in his account from TD Bank.
And coupons for FREE DVD rentals at our library.

Bread

My buy price for bread is $1.00
I prefer .85 cents.
If I run out, I usually make it from scratch.
Stopped by my local bread outlet and treated myself.
Each loaf was $1.00

WHOA, more granola bars

Yep more.
When I bought the Quaker bars on clearance, these store brand ones were there too.  So...I bought them.
1.09 a box.  10 in each box.  Almost 11 cents each bar.
Woo Hoo

LOVE LOVE LOVE CLEARANCE

Clearance!!!
Here is what I bought at my local Giant.
They were 1.19 a box.  I picked out the boxes that had 8 bars in them not 6.
Subtract a double coupons.
Each box was .86 cents.  Not even 11 cents per bar
Expire Nov/Dec.  But they freeze well.  I have snacks for months.

School supplies part 3

I didn't expect a part three, but here it is.
So glad I bought extra supplies when on sale.
Because after we fulfilled the school supply list, we got another one...
Specific for his teacher.
Not too much of a surprise because this happened last year.
Still, we had one day to get it done.
Thankfully I had most of what he needed.
Most of the cheap, cheap school supply sales were over.
He needed 2 more composition books, they were at the local office supply store for 1.00
That seems reasonable, BUT I had 3 that I paid 10 cents for ea.
Whew, so glad I stock up when there is a sale.

Baking soda

I know there are a 100 things can do with Baking Soda
This is how I use it

Freshen carpet
Unclog drains ( with vinegar and hot water)
Freshen drains
facial scrub
toothpaste
treat bee stings
remove yellow armpit stains (use with peroxide and Dawn)
scrub the sink
toilet cleaner (Use with vinegar)
freshen stinky shoes (sprinkle in or make sachet)
deodorant
absorb odors in fridge
remove burned on foods from pots and pans (with hot water let soak)
well, in baking...

How do  you use Baking Soda ?

Back to School - Part 2

The sales on supplies.  As I mentioned, we don't need a thing.
WANT, well that is something completely different.
I Want to be prepared
I Want to pay sale price, not full price.
I Want supplies for the house as well as school.
Just like sales with groceries, stock up when on sale so you don't run out and pay full price.
10 cents for Composition book, yes please, 1 penny for a spiral  notebook, I will take 2.  We use these items all year round.
Be careful though, some stores have this sale, "With minimum purchase of  (Insert dollar amount here)"  I don't buy those.
Plus during these Back to School sales, you can find crafting/art supplies that are cheap. Sharpies, color pencils, paper.
I plan to spend .87 cents to get some supplies I need to prep for a craft show.
25 cents ea. for gold and silver Sharpies (3)
10 cents Composition book
1 cent  spiral notebooks (2)

Back to School - Part 1

Oh the sales...10 cents for a note book, a penny for crayons.
I don't need a thing.
I mentioned in June the many, many pencils my son brought home from school.
He also brought home other supplies the kids (and teacher) were throwing out. New, unused and used glue sticks, Post-it notes, mechanical pencils, pens.  Erasers and more erasers.
His supply list is complete without having to buy a thing.
Barely used color pencils and crayons from last year will do just fine.  They look practically new. 
(We even have enough to fulfill the list again, which I will do and send it in just in case someone can't afford supplies)

That time of year again

Christmas...
Craft show prep
Pretty sure I am going to do a craft show this year, so I have started making crafts
Ornaments from things I have a round the house
Corks
I also hope to bead some Christmas balls and knit dish cloths.