I'm still learning things from my Mom

My Mom was visiting for a few days to help with the kiddos...and showed me something new. Me. The one who refuses to throw out the last five peas that no one ate because they can find new life in the weekly pot of chili. This is a great idea for those of us who can't find crust-less bread at the grocery store because we don't live in Spain.

My four year old won't eat the crust on his sandwiches, which I actually don't get frustrated about. I usually just toss them, this is a battle I choose not to fight. But Mom gave me the idea to cut them off and save them to make breadcrumbs. Doh! So simple, yet so smart. After they get stale, crush them with a rolling pin and season as desired. All this time, all the "free" breadcrumbs I've wasted.

It's been a while

I didn't think returning to work would keep me from my blogging duties, but I was clearly giving myself way too much credit. It's been about two weeks since the big day, and I'm finally getting back into a routine - albeit starting each day an hour earlier.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand - frugal living. Now that I am three month post baby, I need to focus on losing that last five pounds of baby weight. Good times. To do that, it makes sense to watch portion sizes and exercise. The related frugality is that focusing on portion sizes also helps keep the grocery budget in check. Instead of just spooning food onto the plate, take the time to measure it out as the recipe/package suggests. Not only will your waistline thank you, but you will more accurately be able to calculate the cost per serving of your meals. I realized that I don't do a good job of this when I was making frozen raviolis; what I thought was a portion size was really more like two. I always complain I'm overly full after eating pasta like this. If I measure out the correct portion size I will save myself some money by making the bag of ravioli last longer, while also only eating what is really necessary to keep me sated. It's a two for one deal.

A quick unrelated note today - GO USA! (The men's hockey gold medal game is today.)

Where for ART thou?

This popped into my mind when I was picking up Son #1 from school today. I have a humongous bin of art work that I have no idea how I'll ever part with. Since I will eventually have another wee one in school, there is also no way I'll be able to keep everything they bring home. I will NOT, repeat NOT EVER, throw anything away. They are so proud of what they create, it would break my heart. My solution? Wrapping for family gifts! This may sound like common sense, but I realized just today all the non-holiday opportunities I've missed making a little more personal by using Son #1's creations. He brought home a paper plate penguin today, and since my wonderful Mother in Law loves penguins, I'm going to ask him to present it to her at our next visit. I can already see her reaction, and it's prominent placement on her fridge. While not gift wrapping, it will be cherished by her as much as any gift we could ever give her.

While the mice are away

What I really mean, is while my fabulous hubby is at work and my kiddos are asleep, this obsessed television viewer will play! Yes, I watch a lot of tv. One of my friends pointed that out to me this week when we were posting thoughts on Facebook about a show we both like. This leads to my thoughts for today.

My folks, God bless them for putting up with me as a teenager, recently introduced me to a tv show that I now can't get enough of. It's been on the air since 2005, I think, so I've missed a few seasons. I was thinking of buying them on DVD, since I tend to watch things more than once, but then I surfed on over to the tv station website. Lo and behold, the current season is posted on there. For FREE. I will be going back to the beginning and watching the eps up to the point where I started, thankful that I can view them when I feel like it and won't be paying an extra penny to do so. I might even see what other shows are posted and try something new, without wasting precious DVR space. I have digital cable service, and I used that to search for older episodes of the show I'm currently obsessed with...and have set to record every episode I could find that was new to me. Again, at no additional cost.

Just so that people don't think I'm completely lazy, I started dinner before I sat down to watch my recorded eps this afternoon. I made a very frugal, yet tasty, big batch of vegetarian lentil bean chili; I'll be freezing half to have on a night I don't feel like cooking, keeping me from running to the drive through for dinner solace. I even made a batch of brownies :) From a box, purchased with a coupon.

Relax, already!

Again, not having anything truly savings oriented occurring today, I thought I’d write about a general frugal moment that I like to relive when I can. By when I can, I mean either the kiddos will allow it or the weather cooperates.

I like to relax, like many full-time working folks do, but I don’t like to spend money to do so. No day spas for me; I can’t let go of the fact that I’m spending money on something like that, so I can’t relax, which defeats the entire purpose of the appointment. So, to let go of some stress, I like to get up before the rest of the house, make some coffee, grab a book, and head to my porch. I like the morning because I like to see the sun rise and make its way over the trees in the backyard and see the first planes of the day fly over my house. This is where the abovementioned weather comment came from – I can only do this for part of the year since I live in New England and have snow and rain to contend with. When I can’t get outside, I like to sit in a little corner seat in the playroom. Something about the mess of toys is oddly comforting, and it’s next to a window which is important to me. Wherever your favorite place is in your home, making it a priority to spend some time there is a good way to regain some sanity at no cost.

PS: If you read as much as I do, remember to use your public library!! Other than the coffee brewed for my (rare) solitary moments, that keeps my relaxation time free.

Just an idea

In the past few days, I haven't done any noteworthy saving, so I thought I would post a savings idea that came to mind while prepping the weekly grocery list. Oh, wait, that gave me another idea. Yay, two for one!

First, make a grocery list and stick to it! Not only will it get you through the shopping faster, it will help you stick to your budget at the same time. It's helpful to have a menu for the week, but seriously, who has time to do that in addition to taking care of a family, a home and a full time job? I just stock similar items every week and come up with dinners based on them. I do peruse recipe websites and add special items to my list, but as long as they are on the list (and fit the budget) they are fair game! To make shopping even faster, prep the list in the order the aisles fall in the store. That way you won't forget anything jumping around the list, and it helps to keep the focus on needs, not wants.

Second frugal musing of the day - sign up to receive promotional emails from your favorite manufacturers. If you don't mind giving up some personal information, you can really save. For example, I recently received a $2 Kashi cereal coupon in the mail. I love Kashi brand items, but I'm way too frugal to spend the money on them most of the time. This week's circular has one of the cereals on sale for $2.99 and I have the aforementioned coupon - I will most definitely enjoy my box of $0.99 cereal!

Now I'm hungry!

A less than savings-tastic day

To be fair, I thought I should also write about the times I'm not so frugal. Tuesday would be one of those days. I almost made it, then the POTUS' visit to NH got in my way.

To start my day, at 2am, I got up to feed my son. No biggie, it's part of the deal...what is not part of the deal is when he wakes up after only sleeping for an hour and a half. I was exhausted, but a scheduled play date was on the calendar for the day and I was NOT going to miss it. Play dates are money savers in their own way - we stay at home parents (even if we're stay at home only temporarily) get adult interaction but at the same time get to spend time with our wee ones. By going to someones home, there is no spending on junk food at a restaurant and no, "Can I have please have that?"

After the play date, I'm on my merry way home. I take one of several routes, which brings me past a fast food drive through. At this point, I'm starving but home is only several minutes away, or so I thought. Home ended up being about 40 minutes away. After taking several detours, along with a dozen other vehicles, I was forced to pass by said drive through again - this time I was not so steadfast in my frugality. I pulled in and ordered - not only did I spend money thoughtlessly, I didn't even order from the dollar menu. I spent $6, when I could have spent $2 and been sated. I let my lack of sleep and frustration over the lack of detour signs derail my day. But I did learn something - ALWAYS PACK A SNACK! Oh, and it doesn't do any good to beat yourself up when you spend money like that. Today is a new day and I'm back on the horse, with a snack at the ready in my saddlebag.

A case of the Mondays

Today's savings was easy. I have a friend that I met through work that I like to get together with for coffee. Instead of meeting at a restaurant or coffee hut, I invited her to my home. I have one of those one fun Keurig machines (purchased on sale, with a coupon), so I had several tea and coffee options to offer her. It's fresh, just like we'd get at a coffee joint, but free for her and really cheap for me (about $0.46 per k-cup). Yes, this is more expensive than buying grounds and brewing a pot - but, it's still a couple of dollars cheaper than going out for a cup and in the end I waste less of the tasty stuff by not brewing more than I will drink. During the week, my fantastic hubby does brew a regular pot of coffee to fill his work thermos and leaves a couple of cups for me, but I have the k-cups in case I need that extra jolt or want to have a friend over for a sanity check, I mean a visit. I just have to remember to buy some lo-cal sweetener for our next chatfest...I forget that just because I don't use any sweetener in my drinks doesn't mean other people don't.

Don't forget to check out places like Amazon.com for specials on K-cups. Also, ask friends where they buy their coffee/k-cups. The same friend that visited with me today clued me in to a local place that sells many flavors of k-cups cheaper than I was getting them at a chain store. I call the place K-cup Heaven, aka Good Morning Sales in Hooksett, NH, not only for it's immense offerings but also because they also offer most of their flavors by the individual cup! It's $0.55 per cup, but I can try a new flavor without being locked in to an entire box that I might not enjoy. This isn't so much a measurable savings, but I figure I've saved myself some money by trying individual cups of flavors I thought I would LOVE...and ended up truly disliking.

Saturday, freezing Saturday

Let's see. I was all impressed with myself and my $47 bill at the grocery store on Thursday...but today we visited BJs. Let's just say that total made up for the tiny Thursday spend. In fairness to myself, I have a newborn that goes through a trillion diapers a day and they ain't cheap. This randomness leads to my first tip of the day.

If you belong to a warehouse club, be sure to check their policy on manufacturer's coupons. At BJs they not only mail out coupons for their stores, they let you stack manufacturer's coupons on top of them. I was able to get Pampers Baby Dry for about $0.13 per diaper. Diaper brand is a personal preference, but for us Huggies have just never worked as well as Pampers. This is my second time around with a newborn, so I speak from experience.

Another major savings today came in the baby formula aisle. If you are expecting, or know someone who is, PLEASE sign up on the major formula manufacturer's websites (if you are willing to share your information). Today I saved $18 on Nestle Goodstart, and I have saved $5 on Similac. The coupons eventually die down, but if you have to buy it anyway you might as well save where you can. They also send you samples, so you can test out what your bambino tolerates the best. Both Enfamil and Similac sent me good size samples, including six-two ounce "nursettes." If your baby doesn't have a sensitive stomach (mine does, unfortunately), the best savings are found buying store branded formulas. I have compared labels and they are the same as the name brands, just HALF the price. I encourage you to speak to your child's pediatrician about this, since I'm in no way attempting to provide medical advice here; my sons' doctor said that we could go that route without any issues. I just chose to go with what I know works, as I'm a bit hesitant to try new things with my kiddos when it causes spit-up avalanches all over my new red sweater. For those that want to know, Goodstart is more broken down than the other two so is more easily digested - therefore reducing the number of avalanches on new red sweaters.

My last rambling for today, I promise, is about what I won't go cheap on. I'm a bit of a tree hugger (thanks Mom and Dad), so I have started making room in my budget for environmentally friendly products. I have been buying dish detergent for a little while and today I added laundry detergent to the mix. I figure by adding one product at a time it won't kill my budget or shock my system, being the frugal gal I am, but I kind of don't mind spending more to take care of our planet. I recycle, I reuse what I can and look for things that come with minimal packaging when I can (thank you Coffee People for shipping my K-cups responsibly). I need to offset my Keurig habit somehow. Now, when those things are recyclable I will feel MUCH better.

Post script to my first entry

The best thing that I did today to save money was starting my blog. It's free, requires little commitment until anyone actually reads it, and gives me a new hobby to try out. I'm not a very creative person, but I like to talk - a lot. Blogging about something gives me a chance to be a smidge creative, but having a specific topic keeps the mouth from the south (of Vermont) on track.

First blog post - a recap

So, since I'm on leave from work for a short time, and not being paid for part of it, we have to be a bit careful with the money we spend. I thought posting a daily, or almost daily, recap of how I do that would be fun for me and hopefully helpful to someone else. I'm not claiming to be an expert, just a Wife and a Mommy that does not want to have to work outside our home and any way I can save money is one more step towards that goal. Here goes.

Today's frugal happening is...well...just that I passed up stopping for coffee on the way home from an errand. I drank the pot of coffee made by my fantastic hubby a little earlier than normal and, after I finished what I was up to, I was DYING for a quick cup of the high test best. I figure that I saved about $2.50 by sticking to my budgetary guns. Based on the three days a week I have to run out early, that saves me $7.50/week or about $350 year (based on 50 weeks, allowing a couple of weeks for when we're on vacation or otherwise engaged).

Since this is my first posting, and I'm hoping that SOMEONE will not only read this but find something useful, I'm adding a couple of frugal happenings that have occurred while I've been on leave. A little extra bang for your proverbial buck, which is what this is all about anyway.

The big savings I've noticed is in the "dining out" category of our monthly budget. I was allowing for one or two visits to the cafeteria at work, per week. Each visit cost $6, on average, so that's $12 per week. Based on the same 50 week assumption, that would be $600 saved per year.

Also food related, m y recent grocery store savings. It works out that my fantastic in-laws infrequently shop at Stop and Shop using a rewards card. To lure them in, the company mails them coupons/incentives. Since some of the incentives require you to spend a certain amount, which my in-laws won't meet, they give us the coupons. The most recent coupon was for $8 off $50 or more, along with a free item (this week was butter - I love to bake, so butter is a staple on the list). I have a family of four, so you know I can meet the minimum. My point here is to set up a trade with a family member or a friend in the same situation - you and your friend shop at different stores, using rewards programs, and swap the incentive coupons for the store you don't typically visit. Total saved this week was about $11.50 - $8 plus $3.50 for the butter. By sticking to my list and keeping with what was on sale, my total grocery bill was $47.

Another area for saving, where I've actually been more creative, is using all the items in my pantry that have been ignored. When I would come home from work and have to make a meal, I would typically focus only on the things in the front. With more time in my day, I'm using that time to really go through what I have on hand and include that in what I'm making. Food manufacturer web sites, like Pillsbury and Betty Crocker, made it even easier to figure out what to do with all that stuff just hanging out waiting to expire.

I write like I talk, as my 10th grade English teacher once told me, so nothing is ever going to be brief or to the point in my musings. You've been warned.