Valentine’s Day on a Budget
Holidays are notorious for being a call for spending and Valentine’s Day is no exception, but there’s no need to spend buckets of money to empress your honey. Follow these tips and you’ll have a successful Valentine’s Day without blowing your budget.
Check out the oddest of places- The dollar store may not seem like the ideal place to pick up Valentine’s gifts, but you may be in for a big surprise. I went to the dollar store with the intentions of just getting a gift bag, but I found so much more! I bought my Valentine’s cards (that were simple, but sentimental and half the price of regular cards), tissue paper, and some yummy chocolate for my roommates. At the checkout I even spotted single red roses! My roommate and I were in such disbelief that we had to ask and the cashier assured us that the roses were real! In the end, the dollar store may not seem like the first place you would want to start your shopping, but just because the items are inexpensive that doesn’t mean they’re of cheap.
Try the outdoors- If you’re having nice weather, try packing a picnic instead of eating out. You can still have multiple courses without going to a restaurant and paying big bucks for it. Make everything prior to your outing, pack it up and tell your honey that you two are going to go for a little outing. Not only will you get brownie points for surprising her, who wouldn’t want a homemade meal created by the one you love?! Also, if the weather isn’t the best where you’re at, an indoor picnic can be just as romantic! Set out a blanket and some pillows and sit by the fireplace or watch the rain fall.
Here are some super easy recipes to get you started:
Chickpea Salad
California Club Sandwich or Lobster Club Sandwich
Raspberry Cake Bars
Lunch anyone?- If you and your Valentine would rather eat out, lunch time specials allow you to dine for a deal. Restaurants will either throw in a free salad bar or soup before your entrée, or some places offer a two for special that may include an appetizer, entrée and a dessert to share. If dinner is a more feasible option, try looking up places that are offering Valentine’s specials. These can be similar to the midday menu in which they may offer a free dessert or other incentives.
In the end, Valentine’s Day isn’t about the gifts or the deals, but showing the ones closest to you that you care for them. So if nothing else, be sure to say the one phrase that costs nothing by means everything….I love you.
As American as Apple Pie!
With a recent study stating that three out of four Americans prefer homemade pie and the 4th of July holiday quickly approaching, an office wide test of the taste buds had to be conducted.
I was given the entertaining job of making and buying apple pies and had to bring them to the office so a comparison could be done. Not only would taste be factored in, but time spent and cost too.
I started with the easiest of the options, the store bought pie. There were two options in the bakery, a crusted top and a Dutch style pie. Though the pies were cheap, on sale for the holiday weekend at 2 for $6, they were what you would expect. Pretty good, but generic. One co-worker even stated that her slice had a metallic taste to it, most likely due to the tin pans the pies were baked in.
As for the pies from scratch, I decided to try my hand at the homemade crust first. I searched the Internet and found a recipe that required few ingredients and explained the process simply; exactly what I needed, having never made a pie before. From peeling the apples to placing the pie in the oven, the process took about one and a half hours. Also, unlike its store bought counterpart, I used a glass pie baking dish for mine. A handy and cheap investment, only costing $3.89.
The next pie was made with the store bought crust, and it was even easier. I prepared the filling and decided to give this pie a little something extra since I cheated on the crust. Stirring together sugar, cinnamon and a few other ingredients, I had a streusel topping in no time, and it was going to give the homemade feel I was looking for. And it was sure to give the store bakery’s Dutch style pie a run for its money.
Overall, this is how the pies measured up:
The store bought pies were on sale at 2 for $6, but they weren’t exceptional in terms of taste and seeing that the hardest part was walking to the bakery, the process seemed a little too easy.
The next pie, which had a homemade crust, came to a grand total of $12.46 and took one and a half hours to prepare. This recipe was simple and only took a surprising nine ingredients!
The last pie, made with the store bought crust, shaved off 15 minutes in prep time, only using an hour and 15 to make, however, I can’t say the same about the cost. In the end the cost for making this pie was $19.82. Due to the different way this recipe called for prepping the apples the cost of making this pie did go up by $7.36.
In the end, both homemade pies were gone while the store bought pies sat half eaten. However, when surveyed, many in the office weren’t really willing to try making a pie at home. So although the taste of homemade pie is preferred,not many will be making pies of their own anytime soon. If you try your hand at it, visit the sites below for the recipes I used and let me know how it goes!
Happy 4th of July!!
Recipe using store bought crust:
Apple Pie Recipe 1
Recipe using homemade crust:
Apple Pie Recipe 2
Sources:
Food Reference
Food Network
Pillsbury
Fast&Easy Money Saving Tips
1.Get a cheap massage- Many community and career colleges offer classes for students interested in becoming massage therapist and therefore are looking for clients to practice on. Most colleges will charge a minimal fee or sometimes will offer the service for free. Call your local college and see what they have to offer.
2.Take a natural getaway- Take a Saturday to explore your town’s surroundings. Maybe go on a hiking trail, relax at the beach or set up a simple backyard picnic.
3.Look over the grocery newsletter- Use your grocery store’s newsletter to plan the meals for the week using items that are on sale.
4.Scan the perimeter- Many snack type food items are usually found in the aisles of the grocery store while the basic and essential items, such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and so on, are located in the perimeter of the store. So start on the outside and work your way in.
5.Go generic- It used to be that generic brands didn’t offer as great of quality as the name brands, but that’s certainly a myth these days! However, if you still prefer name brands, buy generics for simple items such as hand soap, fruits and vegetables, and some snack foods
6.Plant an herb garden- Buying fresh herbs at the grocery store can start to get pricy, so take matters into your own hands. It can take up a patch of your backyard or take up some space on a sunny windowsill. Either way, these little plants will spice up your cooking and add something extra to your home.
7.Explore the farmer’s market- Shopping for produce at your local farmer’s market saves money and supports local growers too. Also, many vendors are willing to negotiate prices and give free samples.
8.Electrify those leftovers!- Leftovers used to be dreaded by some, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Leftovers save money, prevent waste, and some food channel shows are even beginning to include ways to add zing to yesterday’s meal.
9.Take advantage of free trials– Lots of companies are offering free trials allowing you to decide whether you like the product or not without spending a dime. Just visit their website or search online by just typing “free trials/ free samples.” But beware of scam sites! Some will ask you to sign up for a registry in order to automatically receive samples, this can turn into them sending you a bill after you get your first item.
10.“Money back guarantee”- Many companies are adding this promise to their products. Take advantage of it! If you’re sincerely not satisfied with a product, usually providing a copy of the receipt and a statement of why you are unsatisfied is enough for a full refund.
11.Rent movies for next to nothing- Scores of supermarkets are adding easy $1 a day movie rental stands to their stores. This makes date night easy and cheap too!
12.Bring your lunch to work- This grade school throw back saves money and gas since you won’t even have to leave the office. If you do prefer going out, opt for someplace that offers…..
13.Lunch specials- Lots of restaurants are offering great lunch specials these days. Some places have “you pick two” deals or different items all together on their lunch menu, so go ahead and try something new!
14.Visit your local library- Libraries have an endless amount of resources these days. From an infinite amount books, movies, and computers, the library is an endless resource. In addition, many libraries now have quaint cafés or small fun classes that range from photography to yoga.
15.Kick the habit- At a national average of almost $2 per pack, cigarettes can be an incredibly costly and deadly habit. Smoking 2 packs a day, every day of the week will end up running you about $112 a month. That translates to about $1,344 a year!
16.Skip the gym- And work out in your home or at the local park instead. By doing this not only do you save on gym membership and fees you can be in the comfort of your own home or be breathing some fresh air outside.
More tips can be found at:
1) http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/06/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started/
2) http://www.doughroller.net/smart-spending/51-painless-money-saving-tips/
Sources:
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf
Frugal Halloween Costumes
Halloween costumes can be pricey. If you have more than one child, you can end up paying a small fortune. Kids wear them for a day and then hang them in the closet. Savvy shoppers buy costumes on clearance for the following year. Some costumes can be passed on to another child, swapped with friends or family, or used for dress-up boxes. But you can make unique and easy homemade costumes, too. It’ll cost much less than you’ll pay in retail stores. You might have some of the supplies already, and any remaining won’t break the bank. Sweat suits make a great foundation for a variety of fun costumes, so you don’t have to resort to a white-sheet ghost costume. One reader, Cheryl in North Carolina, shares: “Make a simple bunny costume: pink sweats with bought bunny ears. Paint whiskers on the face, and attach a cotton puff for the tail. Or a sheep costume: black or white sweats with cotton balls attached.”
What types of homemade costumes can you think of made from sweatpants and hoodies?
Here are a few ideas.
KERMIT THE FROG: Use a green sweat suit as the base for the costume. Use a set that has a hooded sweatshirt. Buy white and lime-green felt and peel-and-stick Velcro. Refer to a picture of Kermit for inspiration. Form rounded circles from the white felt. Stuff with batting. Using a permanent marker, draw eyes (circle with two lines extending out from both sides). Attach with Velcro onto the top of the hood. Cut triangles from the lime felt, and using Velcro, attach them around the neck of the hoodie.
CUPCAKE: Use a pink sweat suit (hooded top). You’ll need aluminum foil, a large red pompom or a Styrofoam ball and red spray paint (cherry), brown pipe cleaner (cherry stem), assorted colored felt and pompoms (sprinkles), pink ribbon (suspenders), batting and pink spray paint (frosting). Glue or peel and stick Velcro to attach cupcake decorations and a roundish laundry hamper (cupcake liner). Cut a hole into the bottom of the hamper. This is so it can be worn. Cover the hamper with aluminum foil. Tie the ribbon onto the hamper to make suspenders, and adjust to fit the child. Spray-paint the batting. Once dry, glue the batting around the top of the hamper. Attach pompoms and felt, cut to look like sprinkles. Attach the large red pompom or painted Styrofoam ball onto the top of the hood. Glue the pipe cleaner to it to form a stem. If you can’t find a hoodie, use a winter hat.
BUTTERFLY: Use a black sweat suit (hooded top). You’ll need a headband, black pipe cleaners and two small pompoms or Styrofoam balls painted black. You can buy the wings separately. Wrap the pipe cleaner around the headband. Glue one pompom to each pipe cleaner to form antennae. Or you can use a black winter hat and simply coil the pipe cleaners, poke through the hat, and bend to attach. Along the same lines, you can create a fairy costume by buying fairy wings instead of butterfly wings. Then make a no-sew tutu by using the directions at http://www.gophotography.com/tutu.
GRAPES: Use a purple sweat suit (hooded top). Attach purple balloons with safety pins to sweat suit (top and bottom). Cut a couple of grape-leaf shapes from green felt, and glue a couple of green pipe cleaners coiled to look like grapevine to the underside of the leaves. You can use small pieces of brown felt rolled to form a stem, too.
AUTUMN LEAVES: Use a red, brown or orange sweat suit (hooded top). Buy silk fall leaves. Glue (or attach using safety pins) leaves to entire sweat suit. Child can carry a small toy rake.
Source: Frugal Village
Clues You Live In A Frugal Home
photo by Mykl Roventine
Do you know a tightwad home when you’re inside one? For many people, penny-pinching strategies aren’t noticeable. However, if you’re frugal, you have an eagle’s eye. If you visited a fellow frugalista’s home, you could spot their frugal ways because you probably do them, too.
What in your home is a dead giveaway that you live a frugal life?
Source: Frugal Village
KITCHEN DRAWER: You might see saved rubber bands, free samples, pencil nubs (hey, they still have a point), bread twist ties, folded aluminum foil, used birthday candles, washed plastic baggies or saved bread bags to use for pet care.
FREEZER: What are all those baggies? They’re filled with overripe bananas, frozen pesto, broth, make-ahead meals, vegetables or leftovers, of course. You’ll see meat bought in bulk and divided into smaller meal-sized portions, too.
CUPBOARDS: There’s a full pantry. It often contains preserved foods from a home garden and a food stockpile bought when items were on sale. One reader, Polly in Pennsylvania, shares: “Homemade mixes line my pantry along with dried beans, rice, a 50-pound bag of potatoes and pecks of apples stored for winter. There’s a flyer on our icebox telling of the butcher’s latest chicken specials. It’s what you don’t see that’s more pronounced. No soda, no chips, no store-bought snack foods, no takeout containers, no bottled water, etc.” You would notice homemade cleaners in spray bottles and very few brand-name foods, too.
REFRIGERATOR: You would see reconstituted powdered milk, iced tea, water, block cheese to shred, bagged apples versus individual, and leftovers ready for lunch the following day. You would see seasonal fruits and vegetables (often pre-chopped), reusable containers, a few cartons of eggs bought on sale, homemade condiments, syrups and sauce, bulk yeast and maybe some chilling cookie dough.
SINK AND COUNTER AREA: You might see a spray bottle of dish liquid diluted with water to spritz dishes, a toothbrush for scrubbing, dishrags, knitted or crocheted pot scrubbers or dishcloths, microfiber cloths or washcloths versus paper towels. You would see a kitchen-counter composter (often a coffee container reused) and a change jar, too. Coffee drinkers will have a thermos or carafe to keep coffee hot throughout the day.
LAUNDRY ROOM: You would see the washing-machine water set to cold. You would see a drying rack or retractable clothesline and a laundry loot jar, too. Another reader, Mary in Texas, shares: “My laundry room is off the kitchen, and there are multiples of Zote soap, Borax and Super Washing Soda, plus a big plastic container of homemade laundry soap.”
APPLIANCES AND HELPFUL TOOLS: Most frugal homes have “tools of the trade” that help people save money. A few appliances that top the list are a food dehydrator, stand mixer and slow cooker. There’s a FoodSaver, food processor, grain mill or a spare freezer. Tools such as a calculator, canner, kitchen scale, manual can opener, box grater, rubber spatula, dry erase board, funnel, kitchen shears and cookbooks are incredibly helpful and are common to see in a frugal kitchen, too.
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