Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
I have a confession...
I was not very frugal the other day.
My husband and I have been tossing back and forth the idea of purchasing a Wii, for about 6 months. We are not very big on gaming, like some are, but as an occasional form of entertainment, we love to game. We have 2 old Playstation 2s. But it just wasn't doing it for us anymore.
We did do it in the most frugal manner possible-we purchased used/refurbished from the gaming store.
I feel like I should explain...When we got our tax return, we bought a few things we needed-like a safety rail to convert our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. We bought a car recently, being as the need came up for it. Aside from that, our return was sitting in savings. My husband was unemployed at that time and has now been at his new job 2 weeks and is doing great there.
However, I won't pay $45 for a game. I limit myself to sub-$20 games only, or save up for awhile and purchase the expensive ones out of my fun money (which usually goes to "fun" necessities like if I find a shirt for my daughter that I absolutely love)
I will hang my head in shame now ;) and go play my Wii.
My husband and I have been tossing back and forth the idea of purchasing a Wii, for about 6 months. We are not very big on gaming, like some are, but as an occasional form of entertainment, we love to game. We have 2 old Playstation 2s. But it just wasn't doing it for us anymore.
We did do it in the most frugal manner possible-we purchased used/refurbished from the gaming store.
I feel like I should explain...When we got our tax return, we bought a few things we needed-like a safety rail to convert our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. We bought a car recently, being as the need came up for it. Aside from that, our return was sitting in savings. My husband was unemployed at that time and has now been at his new job 2 weeks and is doing great there.
However, I won't pay $45 for a game. I limit myself to sub-$20 games only, or save up for awhile and purchase the expensive ones out of my fun money (which usually goes to "fun" necessities like if I find a shirt for my daughter that I absolutely love)
I will hang my head in shame now ;) and go play my Wii.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday's Recipes-Sausage N Peppers
This is another slow cooker favorite. It can be done as a very spicy dinner or very mild.
3 lbs Italian Sausage in casings (we buy it very hot)
3 cloves crushed garlic
2-3 red bell peppers and 2-3 yellow peppers (green, if cheaper or more in your budget are also acceptable to cover all peppers)
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
Italian seasonings
Salt
Cut links into approximate 3 inch chunks.
Brown in pan with olive oil, turn heat down, add rest of ingredients, slow cook at least 2 ½ hours (I have been known to just toss it all into the slow cooker uncooked and let it cook all day)
We usually serve this with noodles or rice.
3 lbs Italian Sausage in casings (we buy it very hot)
3 cloves crushed garlic
2-3 red bell peppers and 2-3 yellow peppers (green, if cheaper or more in your budget are also acceptable to cover all peppers)
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
Italian seasonings
Salt
Cut links into approximate 3 inch chunks.
Brown in pan with olive oil, turn heat down, add rest of ingredients, slow cook at least 2 ½ hours (I have been known to just toss it all into the slow cooker uncooked and let it cook all day)
We usually serve this with noodles or rice.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday Goals
This is the second week of our feature of listing our goals for the week and checking in on last week's goals.
Last Week's Goals
Make it to the YMCA-Everyday. Swim twice a week just me and DD, minimum 25 min on treadmill each day, plus muscular on non-swim days.
-I did fairly well on this. We did miss Monday, Wed, and Saturday. Monday was an exception on the basis that we spent Sunday overnight in the ER trying to find out why DD was screaming instead of sleeping. Wed just got too busy, I had an obligation at 1, and just couldn't make it that morning. Saturday was because we found it more important to fix the car. I am proud of myself on this though, as I pushed myself harder on the treadmill-and have lost 2 lbs since I began working out.
Not eat out.
-I failed this mission. DD and I had Burger King one day because of being out so much. We also ate at Subway after our work out today. Oops.
Blog Everyday.
-Mission Accomplished!
Clean a room in my house.
-Total failure, I forgot this goal!
Somehow, get rid of more items than come into my home.
-I did this!!! I tossed out a bunch of stuff, including some sheets from my husband's childhood, and only brought consumables into the house (I am not including the car parts...I see those as consumable at least to some degree)
This Week
Work out a minimum of 4 days
Start Cleaning one room
Blog Daily
More items out than in
Lay a minimum of 15 bricks for my garden's border.
Last Week's Goals
Make it to the YMCA-Everyday. Swim twice a week just me and DD, minimum 25 min on treadmill each day, plus muscular on non-swim days.
-I did fairly well on this. We did miss Monday, Wed, and Saturday. Monday was an exception on the basis that we spent Sunday overnight in the ER trying to find out why DD was screaming instead of sleeping. Wed just got too busy, I had an obligation at 1, and just couldn't make it that morning. Saturday was because we found it more important to fix the car. I am proud of myself on this though, as I pushed myself harder on the treadmill-and have lost 2 lbs since I began working out.
Not eat out.
-I failed this mission. DD and I had Burger King one day because of being out so much. We also ate at Subway after our work out today. Oops.
Blog Everyday.
-Mission Accomplished!
Clean a room in my house.
-Total failure, I forgot this goal!
Somehow, get rid of more items than come into my home.
-I did this!!! I tossed out a bunch of stuff, including some sheets from my husband's childhood, and only brought consumables into the house (I am not including the car parts...I see those as consumable at least to some degree)
This Week
Work out a minimum of 4 days
Start Cleaning one room
Blog Daily
More items out than in
Lay a minimum of 15 bricks for my garden's border.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Almost There!
If you look back to Sunday's post, you'll see this week's goals. I almost didn't post today, than remembered about that post...
If you recall, we purchased a used vehicle a week and half ago. It ran great on the test drive...and the owners chose not to divulge to us that it doesn't always start well.
I have put our daughter into her car seat and gone to start the car several times this week, only to have to flood it to get it going. My mechanic friend gave us some ideas of how to start off...first he wanted us to do a tune up (and while we were at it, we thought we might as well do an oil change).
Let me tell you--if you can learn to do these things on your own (or have a friend who will do them for you), you will save TONS! Our cars are somewhere where we buy quality parts not always the cheapest!
I do not know yet if my car is "fixed" because the problem only occurs on the first start up and is inconsistent. The inconsistency also makes it difficult to diagnose. However, here is the breakdown of price for everything we paid for for my car today.
5 quart jug of oil- $9.50
Oil Filter- $2.88
Rotor- $11.99
Distributor cap- $9.99
Spark Plugs (2 sets of two) $8.88 each (with the ones we purchased, we also should not need to purchase spark plugs for my car ever again)
Spark Plug wires- $32.99 (Lifetime guarantee too!)
Valve stem covers (discovered two were missing) $2.99
Lug Nuts (discovered one was missing) $5.99-they only came in a set of four, so we have three extra now.
The only thing that I paid extra for fun were is my valve stem covers-I paid an extra dollar to get colored metal ones vs the standard plastic.
So, today, my dad taught my husband how to do a tune-up. We found an old receipt from my husbands last tune up--he paid $60.00 just for the labor part, and each of his parts were more expensive!
My dad and husband got to create some new memories over my dad's favorite topic-cars, and we saved a decent chunk of change in car maintenance.
Next mission for the two of them? Fix my husband's breaks, starting with installing a new master cylinder.
If you recall, we purchased a used vehicle a week and half ago. It ran great on the test drive...and the owners chose not to divulge to us that it doesn't always start well.
I have put our daughter into her car seat and gone to start the car several times this week, only to have to flood it to get it going. My mechanic friend gave us some ideas of how to start off...first he wanted us to do a tune up (and while we were at it, we thought we might as well do an oil change).
Let me tell you--if you can learn to do these things on your own (or have a friend who will do them for you), you will save TONS! Our cars are somewhere where we buy quality parts not always the cheapest!
I do not know yet if my car is "fixed" because the problem only occurs on the first start up and is inconsistent. The inconsistency also makes it difficult to diagnose. However, here is the breakdown of price for everything we paid for for my car today.
5 quart jug of oil- $9.50
Oil Filter- $2.88
Rotor- $11.99
Distributor cap- $9.99
Spark Plugs (2 sets of two) $8.88 each (with the ones we purchased, we also should not need to purchase spark plugs for my car ever again)
Spark Plug wires- $32.99 (Lifetime guarantee too!)
Valve stem covers (discovered two were missing) $2.99
Lug Nuts (discovered one was missing) $5.99-they only came in a set of four, so we have three extra now.
The only thing that I paid extra for fun were is my valve stem covers-I paid an extra dollar to get colored metal ones vs the standard plastic.
So, today, my dad taught my husband how to do a tune-up. We found an old receipt from my husbands last tune up--he paid $60.00 just for the labor part, and each of his parts were more expensive!
My dad and husband got to create some new memories over my dad's favorite topic-cars, and we saved a decent chunk of change in car maintenance.
Next mission for the two of them? Fix my husband's breaks, starting with installing a new master cylinder.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Friday Follow.
Once again, I have hooked up with other blogs to do a Friday Follow. So, first I say, WELCOME, to each and every one of you!!
By now, if you're anything like me and my family, you're done working for the week and your brain has checked out, so if you're looking for a big in depth post, please look below.
A few things about us. We are a young family, learning to make it on our own with a little girl who is 18 months old. I am a stay at home mom for many reasons, one is the absolute joy I find in it, alongside the fact that the jobs I could "easily" get to contribute wouldn't even hardly cover the cost of child care in my area and expenses of me working.
So, to make it as a single income family, we try to live as frugally as we are comfortable with, including making things from scratch and other things. I love to share tips I find and use with anyone and everyone, as well as stories of our lives and pictures of my daughter.
By now, if you're anything like me and my family, you're done working for the week and your brain has checked out, so if you're looking for a big in depth post, please look below.
A few things about us. We are a young family, learning to make it on our own with a little girl who is 18 months old. I am a stay at home mom for many reasons, one is the absolute joy I find in it, alongside the fact that the jobs I could "easily" get to contribute wouldn't even hardly cover the cost of child care in my area and expenses of me working.
So, to make it as a single income family, we try to live as frugally as we are comfortable with, including making things from scratch and other things. I love to share tips I find and use with anyone and everyone, as well as stories of our lives and pictures of my daughter.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Reading Frugally
Books are expensive.
Seriously, they have gotten ridiculous! Fortunately, I have a few suggestions for those like me who can devour a book a day if they are feeling like it.
Use Your Library This may seem obvious, but if it is a book that I do not intend to keep or read over and over again, my first stop is the library. My local library is really awesome about having many copies of most books in stock. Ours is a network throughout our county of approximately 8 or 9 libraries. If I want a book that is at the southernmost library and I'm live at the northernmost, I can request it right online and usually within 2 or 3 days, I get a notice right in my inbox online that it's there. Even better, they have movies there too! Some are free and others are a buck for 7 nights! That's better than redbox!
Buy at the Library! I have heard that library book sales are dependent on the library. Ours has a constant bin that you can go through at each branch. Books usually are as cheap as .25 or as expensive as 1.50. I have heard that some libraries save all the books up and once a year have a huge sale. Find out what yours does.
Borrow. I watch other avid readers' shelves and carefully borrow my books out as well. I keep a little note pad near my books stating who is borrowing what and go from there.
Bargain Books I absolutely love that Borders and Barnes and Noble each have Bargain books sections. I have found everything from children's books, to classics, to even some current fiction for real cheap prices there.
PaperBackSwap.com This is a wonderful website. I have been on it for over a year now. What you do is gather all your books that you no longer want. Sign up for the website, and type in all of the isbn's. This will list them as available. When someone wants your book, you approve the request and depending on when you say you'll mail the book by, you have up to a week to mail it out. You do pay shipping (usually around 2.50 for Media Mail). When they mark the book received or if you use shipping confirmations, you get a credit. You than use your credit to order a book which will show up on your doorstep within a few weeks of ordering! You can also "purchase" credits for about 3.00. They have a bargain books area as well now, where you can pay with a credit as well as a little cash to get a brand new book from a warehouse.
Dollar Stores I have never had luck *yet* at finding books for myself at the dollar store. However, kids rarely care what the story is about, and so my daughter and nephew get tons of books from the dollar store and dollar sections of Target. They are cheap so that we simply can't care if they get destroyed-and slowly but surely, they do!
What do you do for inexpensive ways to read?
Seriously, they have gotten ridiculous! Fortunately, I have a few suggestions for those like me who can devour a book a day if they are feeling like it.
Use Your Library This may seem obvious, but if it is a book that I do not intend to keep or read over and over again, my first stop is the library. My local library is really awesome about having many copies of most books in stock. Ours is a network throughout our county of approximately 8 or 9 libraries. If I want a book that is at the southernmost library and I'm live at the northernmost, I can request it right online and usually within 2 or 3 days, I get a notice right in my inbox online that it's there. Even better, they have movies there too! Some are free and others are a buck for 7 nights! That's better than redbox!
Buy at the Library! I have heard that library book sales are dependent on the library. Ours has a constant bin that you can go through at each branch. Books usually are as cheap as .25 or as expensive as 1.50. I have heard that some libraries save all the books up and once a year have a huge sale. Find out what yours does.
Borrow. I watch other avid readers' shelves and carefully borrow my books out as well. I keep a little note pad near my books stating who is borrowing what and go from there.
Bargain Books I absolutely love that Borders and Barnes and Noble each have Bargain books sections. I have found everything from children's books, to classics, to even some current fiction for real cheap prices there.
PaperBackSwap.com This is a wonderful website. I have been on it for over a year now. What you do is gather all your books that you no longer want. Sign up for the website, and type in all of the isbn's. This will list them as available. When someone wants your book, you approve the request and depending on when you say you'll mail the book by, you have up to a week to mail it out. You do pay shipping (usually around 2.50 for Media Mail). When they mark the book received or if you use shipping confirmations, you get a credit. You than use your credit to order a book which will show up on your doorstep within a few weeks of ordering! You can also "purchase" credits for about 3.00. They have a bargain books area as well now, where you can pay with a credit as well as a little cash to get a brand new book from a warehouse.
Dollar Stores I have never had luck *yet* at finding books for myself at the dollar store. However, kids rarely care what the story is about, and so my daughter and nephew get tons of books from the dollar store and dollar sections of Target. They are cheap so that we simply can't care if they get destroyed-and slowly but surely, they do!
What do you do for inexpensive ways to read?
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