May Day!

I tallied up all the receipts for the last two weeks of May. Very, very interesting to see our patterns emerging. Just trying to get an idea of what we are spending and how much we actually make. We call it a fact finding mission. Tomorrow, the real efforts begin in cutting back, tracking expenses, budgeting and planning for our finances. So far, it's all been practice.

Oh man alive.

Saturday Sewing

I like to sew in the summer when it is muggy and hot out. Sometimes I'll make a skirt or some summer item, sometimes I try to make something I need in every day life and use up things in new ways. I am not an expert sewer. I go by guess and by golly. If you like perfectly measured things and step by step sewing instructions, you are reading the wrong blog, my friend. I'm just a Mom, with a sewing machine and basic mending and sewing capabilities. I did make my husband's and my son's vests for our wedding, but that was different story. I had DIY wedding fever then.

Today, I had a couple of old towels, a flannel baby receiving blanket and a half yard of pink butterfly print cotton left over from an smock I made a while back. I am a lady so I won't mention by name what I was fashioning but let's just say that my goal was not so much perfection as it was absorption.

I made two, just to see if I could, though I cut out enough for at least two more. When I think about it though, I have many more recycled fabrics lying around that I could use to this end. Now that I have made the template (from of a cardboard granola bar box), it's just a matter of assembly line sandwiching and sewing of the fabrics. I'll just use them at home, not for going out.

I must say though, it is nice to know I could use these all the time instead of storebought if I wanted to.

Some might think this is too frugal, too gross, too old fashioned. Some might think I shouldn't even talk about such a thing. (I'm hearing an old tape in my head.)

Some might also say that storebought are expensive, full of chemicals and bad for the environment, which also lends itself to an ick factor, in my opinion.

Since this is my blog, my opinion is what you'll get :)

The fact of the matter is, I didn't feel like going out today, especially so the old man at my nearest corner store could fumble, hurriedly, with (yet another) plastic bag, so he could pretend not to notice what I am buying while chatting inanely about the weather. I could have used a chocolate bar, that alone almost made me go to the store, but I made do with the rest of the chocolate chips in the cupboard instead.

It really wasn't about saving money at all, that was just an added bonus.

Besides, Who would know?

Oh right...all you people on the internet...

For shame!

Vegetarians, you might not want to look...

Just fair warning...this is a meaty post. Ha ha, I'm hilarious :D

Friday night, home from my new job and taking the night off cooking. Good thing we enjoy having a BBQ once in a while. I had steak on the menu plan for last night. I was happy when the man followed the menu plan to the letter while I was away working. Even made the fish dish, which I was sure they would subtitute for, say, pop and chips, in my absence. This is really working well and saves a lot of money at the grocery store, since I only have to buy the items I need to make meals. Apparently, my family also eats healthier food because of the plan as well.

The last time I went grocery shopping, I brought a certain amount of cash and vowed not to go over. I tried valiantly but there was a sale on meat that I couldn't walk away from as we had next to nothing in the freezer. Meat is always a budget buster for us. I could take it or leave it, and have done both the taking and the leaving of it, but I went and married a staunch carnivore and now I must simply live with him :) I went twenty dollars over at the till and had to use debit. I was somewhat expecting that and I used the cash to pay another bill so it all worked out. I'm working on it!

We are also still tracking our purchases.

It kind of hit home for all of us when we had to write down the $2 for a plastic pokemon from the gumball machine...

One thing I do when there is a sale on meat is to buy the warehouse packs and then re-package it myself. I am sure that most budget friendly Moms do this, mine did, and I have always done it for myself, even before having a child. It makes things way easier when it is time to defrost something for a meal to already have it in the correct portion size for your cooking needs. Also, it makes your meat stretch further because you aren't having a ton of lefovers which may or may not end up on the garbage. Here is a pic of what I did with mine. You can't see it well here, but, for example, I bought two pounds of bacon which I cut each pack in half and now I have four packs. Same with the ground beef. I was in a hurry, next time I might freeze some things in marinades, which can save another step in the thawing, seasoning and cooking process. Now, Vegetarians, I warned you, if you are still looking, it's your own darn fault.

Making progress and other yummy stuff

I can't tell the difference between store bought and homemade. Oh wait, the price, less packaging, knowing all of the additives and ingredients... I guess I can tell the difference!

I finally succeeded in making granola and this time I put it Into the Crockpot. Imagine that. What a difference. I was able to toast it without it scorching it to death. It was a lot easier this way because I didn't have to keep opening the oven door and putting on the oven mitts. Thanks to a Year in Crockpotting for that great tip. I never really considered cooking dry in the crockpot before, I always thought you had to have liquid. Not so!

The yogurt; I made a new batch using my old batch as a starter. I also let it "incubate" in my camping cooler this time, wrapped in a towel as before. There was a lot more whey this time, perhaps due to my homemade starter? I am not sure... will have to read up on this. I decided it needed to be drained, but how to do it? I got out my plastic juice jug and some cloth and an elastic band. I kind of pushed the cloth in to make an indentation and put the elastic band around the lip of the jug. Then I poured the yogurt in. Voila. The whey dripped into the jug, leaving the creamy yogurt in the cloth, which I just scooped back into the container. One litre of reconstituted milk filled up my container when it was all said and done. Beautiful. Cheap summer breakfast and it was also kid tested and approved.

I made dinner in the crockpot, a spicy, tomato based beef stew with lentils. I served it over rice and it was very good. It was in the menu plan and it made so much, I froze half of it. I am trying to plan around our new, busier schedule. This should prove interesting to the budget efforts. Wish me luck. I also made a loaf of white breadmaker bread. I got a gander at The Frugal Girl's gorgeous whole wheat loaves and I must say, they look scrumptious. Put that in my must do list, when I get more baking pans.

I got the crockpot for christmas when my son was just a baby. My sister got it for me. Wouldn't you know it, she knows me like the back of her hand. I have been using it faithfully ever since. The breadmaker is a recent acquisition. I kept talking about getting one and I never quite got around to it. I made a lot of quickbreads, muffins, scones, biscuits, but usually stayed away from the yeast doughs. I don't know exactly why. My Mum often made bread when I was young. It's one of my most comforting childhood memories. Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread! While I was visiting her last winter, she happened to find a breadmaker in the thrift store for $6.50. She plugged it in and checked all the buttons and decided it was worth the risk. It was! We played around with it a bit, and I had to research online to get a good recipe, but at last I have found one that is quite versatile and reliable. I can add raisins and cinnamon to make a sweet dough for breakfast, for example, or just plain when I want a fresh loaf for dinner. You see, I can't take all the credit for my frugal talents. I come from a loooonng line of Frugalistas...Recessionistas, Depressionistas, whatever you want to call it. I think it would be very educational for me to do a feature post on some of my predecessors...hmmm...

My mama done raised me right :D

Today is a big day for us, lots of changes. It's nice to take a few minutes to drink my coffee and ponder the possibilities.

Thrift Store Nirvana

I have been saving all my receipts in an envelope for the last two weeks so that I can start to get an idea of what we actually spend and where. This is not the first time I have attempted to do this, however, it is the first time I actually have a plan (sort of) of what to do with the information. For the last few months we have been scheduling Money Mondays once a month so we can talk about where we are going and what we might like to do with our money. This has not been a simple process and I'll admit one or both of us has been guilty of postponing Money Monday to Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday or Thursday.... (Aw, can't we do it next week?) Anyhow, it's a process, and I am trying to take small steps. My teensy tiny step this month is to set some reasonable financial goals, five of them to be precise (besides vacation money, yep, got it we want a vacation, no, not just to see my Mum, or yours. Yes, we could have gone to the Dominican for that, I know...) agree upon them,(ha!) and remove the fear.(double ha!) That's all I have to say about that, for now... *sigh*.

Time to send my boy out to face the big wide world. Well, twice a week, anyhow. This will mean creativity in the packaged lunch department, as well as organizing the sock and underwear situation. "Go look in the dryer," is probably no longer going to cut it. He already has a cooler bag and a reusable drink box. I am going to have to get some cool kid cook books or something. The other thing we did was to buy pretty much all of our family's summer wardrobe. This is a good thing because it gets very hot here in the summer and one must have cool clothing. We had a few things, now we should be set.


Fortunately, my favourite clothing store, Value Village, had a huge 50% off sale! I went early in the day to scope it out. I hadn't stopped by the ATM yet, so all I had was a pittance of change in my pocket. I'm trying to use cash, it's a little more concrete for me. I'm cheap, so actually prying the dollars from my fist is a little more difficult than imaginary numbers on a screen. Those imaginary numbers are the tricky ones. I still managed to score two cute T-shirts for my boy, one red with sharks, one yellow with a cool antique car motif, for $2.63. The store was packed with bargain hunters, and we were hungry for lunch, so I vowed to return later with renewed vigor. I did my best Arnie impression and we went home. We did go back once the man got off work. I can pick out clothes for him and he is usually satisfied with my choices, but for once he felt the urge to look for himself. Actually, he wasn't sure I had scoured the boy's shorts thoroughly enough, and by golly he was right; he managed to find things I hadn't noticed. The racks were continually restocked during the day, so yay for going back twice. Our total for the three of us, including my earlier foray, was $43.58. Not bad for seven shirts, six pairs of shorts and a vest. I thought about posting a photo of the clothes, but just look at any photo of us. For example, in the picture above the shirts we are wearing came off the clearance rack at Walmart. I think I paid $4 each, NWT. The other cool thing was the coupon booklet given out with each purchase. We ended up with two booklets, which I am certain to put to good use, so double yay. (What's with the double 'ha's and 'yay's in this post?)


Sunday was spent at the beach. We packed a cooler and drove to the provincial park which is less that ten minutes from our home. I know, I am lucky. We spent $11 on picnic snacks and the rest we brought from home. We played frisbee and laid on the beach for hours. SO relaxing :) Yes, those are our feet. No, we are not photographers.

My question to other thrift store shoppers is : Does it matter to you what cause the thrift store supports, or do you strictly thrift for the deal/thrill of the hunt/money saving? Most of the places that I go have what I consider to be fairly noble causes, but there is one I don't agree with. Trouble is, I know they have fantastic deals in there, they advertise them all the time and I am dying to go in and browse. I won't state what the cause is here, I don't care to start a controversy today about who believes what, what is and is not right, blah blah blah...ad nauseum. It's one of those one side-or-the-other type of issues.
Ask me tomorrow, I may surprise you with a fresh controversy, but for today, I will stick to the mundane subject at hand. Should I go in and have a peek at their wares? So far I haven't been able to do it, something is holding me back...what if I want to buy something? Surely my frugal nature would override my haughty ideals. Does my fifty cents matter towards supporting their cause? If I were in a state of need, would I have the luxury of a lofty moral position? How far do you go to be frugal, yet maintain your morals?

No rest for the wicked

Hi! Have a brownie :) They turned out really good, moist and slightly cakey. I substituted one of the eggs in a two egg recipe for...yep, you guessed it..yogurt. I throw all the nuts and goodies on top because you can use less, (I used 1/2 cup each instead of a full cup, 50% less), and it seems like more if it is not hidden in the brownie batter. I also use a glaze, about two tbsp instead of a full icing recipe. Less is more, I say. I'll give you the recipe, just leave a comment, but be warned, I have altered it. Every time I make something I switch it up, depending on what I have in the pantry. No one notices these little things as they are devouring the chocolatey goodness, and it saves me ingredients. I am running low and I did not manage to make it to the farmer's market as I planned this morning. I have been on the phone all morning, scheduling appointments for my son. I got myself a part time job. I am so happy because I will be able to begin our budget and debt snowball with even more confidence. There will be added expenses that come with working but, let's face it; an increase to the monthly income is a good thing. I just hope we don't go too crazy with the packaged foods, that's been a big cost in the past. I will have to be a bit more organized than I have been before. I think I will have to become even more creative with less time on my hands to remain in the frugal ways. We have started to become accustomed to the simplicity of such things as fresh bread from the bread maker (me, ha ha), homemade goodies and the like. I don't want to give it up, for spending hard earned dollars on fast foods and junk, so think I will have to manage my time better. I won't be able to be as spontaneous, (ooh, let's make cookies, it's 9.pm!) but more disciplined in my planning. My menu plan my have to become a little more specific as to include lunches and breakfasts, for example. No more winging it, I guess. Oh well, I have many good blogs from which to draw my inspiration, and much to learn.

Oh, jeez, I gotta get in the shower!

Busy hands

I had a few projects that I wanted to get done so out came the old craft box. My son and I just love doing little crafts for fun but I had some things I had been putting on the back burner for quite some time. Finally, I got them all done in one fast and furious morning craft session. I have a bunch of decorative rocks left over in my stockpile which I have had several creative ideas for, yet they remain in a bucket, unused. I originally used them in vases on the picnic tables at my camp away wedding two years ago. I have tons and tons so I am hoping I can think of a few more things to do with them, because I just love them. I may have to concede, however, and offer them up to a fellow freecycler, though, sigh. There are just so darn many of them. I started making a vase by hot gluing the smaller rocks to an applesauce jar in a mosaic-like pattern. I can't easily recycle my glass jars here, so I try to reuse and re purpose them as much as I can, or avoid buying them altogether. This bored me after a while, it was repetitive and tedious so I quit half way. I'll post a pic if and when I ever finish it. It looks pretty good, so I just might.
The other thing I did was to make fridge magnets. These were super quick. The directions are:

Uh, I glued a magnet to each rock. See? Pretty huh?

Actually, these might make a cute gift...hmmm....





The next thing I had to get done was some thank you cards. I'll admit I had a look at Walmart and I was seriously considering just buying some to save the time. They were $7 for ten boring cards. It's not bad really, just I had better ideas for my $7. So I decided to make them myself. I did buy the letter stickers, they were a dollar, but I still had card stock left from aforementioned wedding, (when I made my own invites). I had at least two cards to send for favours done for me lately and I was determined to get them out this weekend. I am trying to make more of an effort to show appreciation to the important people in my life. My son reminded me of the third one just in the nick of time, as I was making them. My son is brilliant :)


In order to keep the little one busy, so I could go with the creative flow and because I had been promising for so long, I got him started on a recycled CD fish craft. I had seen one hanging in a random car one day and thought it was such a good kid's craft. Cute, simple, recycled, it had all the elements. I also knew I already had all the materials in my tote at home. This craft is cheap like borscht and my kid loves it. We plan on making a few more to hang outside. They make great sun catchers. You can see the simple directions here: http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/fishcrafts/l/blcdfish.htm















That was quite a burst of creative energy I had. I love it when that happens.