DIY Diaper Pail Powder/Carpet Powder

I got this "recipe" from Thrifty Reader, Kelisa. I can't wait to try it!

What you need:

• 8 oz. box of baking soda
• 25-50 drops of Essential Oil (EO) of your choice (depending how strong the smell is, like tea tree oil has a very strong scent so I'd use the 25 drops range while sweet orange has a softer scent, so I'd use closer to 50). After making this once, you can't even tell I used any of the EO, so it will really last a LONG time!
• Empty (and clean) Parmesan Cheese Shaker

Directions:

1. Dump the baking soda into a bowl.
2. Add 25-50 drops of EO.
3. Mash with a fork.
4. Let sit for about 30 minutes.
5. Sift.
6. Let sit for another 30 minutes.
7. Sift again.
8. Put into a shaker container
9. Sprinkle into diaper pail as needed!
10. For carpets, sprinkle on carpet, let set for 10-30 minutes, and vacuum off.

Disclaimer: If you are concerned about the filter on your vacuum, try dissolving it with water in a spray bottle container, spray on, wait, and vacuum. - Thanks to Thrifty Reader Marlo for that tip!

Own a Home without a Mortgage

I came across this video and couldn't help but share it. Maybe you're not into exactly what they do, but you could certainly learn tips of ingenuity, minimalism, and contentment. While *I* wouldn't do this, my husband likely would it if we could figure out where to put three kids. He's hard core like that.

 

Shotgun Shack

This family of 3 lives in a 320 sq ft house and even homeschool their son. They run a business next door. It is all simplifying and focusing on "what you have and not what you don't have." They even have a guest bed. I think this is a great idea if you can make it work. Discuss what you think in the comments.

Thanks to my friend Coot for sharing the link with me!

Thrifty Reader Request: Saving with Your Dog

If you have a pet, you get to experience the joys of a friendly companion. They can become like members of the family. And like all members of the family, they cost money. Whether you have one or you are considering buy a dog, here are some ways you can save the cash but still enjoy man's best friend. I hope these help!

• If you are really strapped for cash and can't even pay your bills, now is not the time to buy a dog. This article discusses why pets are expensive and says that Americans spend $30 BILLION annually on their pets.

Me and my pup, Delilah

• Buy a small dog. - We are just THAT frugal. Lol. We have a chihuahua. I got her from a home that rescued one dog and bought a shelter dog. My pup cost me $75 before shots. When you compare that to the hundreds of dollars that other people spend just to buy a dog, I'd say we got a pretty good deal. Smaller dogs also eat less, use fewer toys, make less mess, and take up less space.

• If you already have a bigger dog, consider buying food in bulk. For my chihuahua, we buy 25lb bags when they go on sale. This one bag lasts over a year. Your bigger dog will go through it faster, but you plan on feeding them, so go ahead and buy it. You can keep the big bag in the garage and fill up a small container to store in your cabinet for everyday use.

• Do not buy food at your vet or go all fancy with the food. Check the ingredients the next time you're in the pet aisle. Many brands use the same ingredients and some are just cheaper than others.

• Also, to save your money and your dog's life, don't overfeed it. You go through food quicker and obesity in dogs can create problems for their joints and energy.

• Consider doing away with buying name brand treats and start making your own from scratch. This website has some awesome recipes, and the ingredients are likely already in your cabinets.

Another cute pic of Delilah

• Buy toys at garage sales. Gently used toys work great and cost a fraction of the price.

• Your vet will charge a ton for services that could easily be done elsewhere. You can get your vaccinations at pet stores or animal welfare agencies at a lower cost. 

• Make sure you get the shots done on time. Preventative maintenance is a great way to save money in the long run.

• If you think there may be something wrong with your pup, search the internet for home remedies first. If you are still concerned, call your vet. Be sure to price around as well.

• Groom your dog at home. For thicker coats, make sure you brush regularly. This will save you a headache for when you go to wash the pup. For small dogs or somewhat large dogs, your bathtub will serve a great place to do this. If you are worried about hair clogging the drain, invest $3 in a drain net. When it is warmer, you can wash/groom your dog outside. If you'd like a good tutorial, this video was helpful.

Drink More Water!

I was at lunch with some friends the other day at a chain restaurant. My friend's drink cost him $2.29. TWO. TWENTY. NINE. I'm sorry, but that is just ridiculous. I know he had free refills, but it helped me realize some math. Bear with me for a moment.

Let's give some restaurants the benefit of the doubt. Let's say the average soft drink only costs $1.50 and you get free refills. Think of how many times you go out to eat per year. I would render a guess at the average family eats out once a week. $1.50 X 52 weeks = $78! For ONE person.

Seventy-eight dollars is a lot of money, and that's at the low end for price per beverage and a low estimate for the number of drinks you order per year. Add in when you get fast food, the number of people in your family ordering, the amount you spend on groceries a year for soft drinks to enjoy with dinner, or the coffee you buy for your mornings.

You know how much money I spend a year on beverages? Zero. Nada. Nothing.

As I teen, I was drinking WAY too much pop/soda/coke/whatever-you-wanna-call-it than anyone should have ever been allowed to drink. It was easy for me to drink 8 cans of something without thinking it strange. Now, as a mother who doesn't let her kids drink pop, I am floored by this memory.

About 9 years ago, I decided to quit cold turkey. I did this during my first real job. You see, at this job, I had lunch breaks. It didn't take long to realize that my added beverage at lunch was taking up too much of my $7/hr wage. Pop was expensive, lemonade was cheaper, but a cup of water was free. I was sold. "Can I please have a cup/glass of water?" has become quite the natural question when I do go out to eat.

Whether I go out to eat, drink at home, or take something with me to the park or whatever, I don't buy anything aside from food. I haven't come across a single place that has denied me a cup of water. The very worst case scenario was when I was dying of thirst and ran through a drive-thru. Because I wasn't ordering food, I was informed that I'd have to pay $0.16 for a small cup of water. Big whoop.

Want to be really frugal? Ask for no ice. Most restaurants have their drinks ready to serve cold. Since ice cubes take up more space than water, you'll get more water in your cup AND it will still be cold.

And please understand that I am not advocating drinking bottled water. If that is your solution, you've missed the point. Bottled water costs money and produces a ton of waste.

I have a water filter on my fridge at home that pumps out ice cold clean fresh water to me whenever I want it. If you don't have a fridge that does that, you can get a water filter for under $30. You can also purchase a thermos to carry water with you if you see fit. You can find those for under $13.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but putting a $30 investment into a water filter and $13 into a nice reusable water bottle is still LESS than that original amount we added up earlier.

These products would last for years, work out to be infinitely cheaper, reduce an unlimited amount of waste, and it's all completely healthy for you.

Click here to read some reasons why water is not only thrifty, but how it has a ton of great health benefits.

For the skeptics, I know you're considering how high my water bill must be because of how much I drink water at home... Well, for one, it isn't even a noticeable increase in our water bill, but furthermore, we conserve water like crazy at home. But that post is for another day.

If your wondering where I get my caffeine fix, I don't have one. I don't drink pop, tea, or coffee (coffee and tea costs money too, you know). I've learned that a human CAN survive without pumping caffeine into their system.

Eliminate Dryer Sheets and Minimize Fabric Softener

Want your clothes soft and static free AND cut back on costs? This tip is great.

Ingredients:

• A bottle of your favorite fabric softener
• A 2 gallon bucket
• A few sponges
• Water

Directions:

1. Pour the fabric softener into the bucket. 
2. Fill the empty fabric softener container with water. Pour into bucket.
3. Repeat Step 2.
4. Stir
5. Throw in sponges
6. Cover with lid or towel.

To Use:

1. Wash clothes without fabric softener.
2. Put clothes into dryer.
3. Wring out a sponge (or 2 - depending on load size). Toss in with the load.
4. Dry as usual.
5. Return sponges to bucket.

Your clothes will still be soft and static free. You are using a mere fraction of the amount of softener you'd normally be using AND you are eliminating your cost on dryer sheets.


Additional tip:

Find small container to store the sponges and a smaller amount of the liquid. This way, you can store it handy and you don't have the bucket in your way. Keep the remaining in the bucket, but out of the way.

Feel Green:

If you use this tip, you'll be eliminating the waste of your added fabric softener containers, the dryer sheets, and the dryer sheet box AND you will be using fewer chemicals in your clothes.

Another use:
Does your dog ever act strange when a thunderstorm is approaching? Some believe that they act this way because the canine feels an increase of static electricity in their fur. Wipe a little bit of this liquid on their fur and it will help remove the static, making them calm and fresh smelling all at the same time!

Let me know if you try it!

A Royal Wedding: Saving on Your Dress

(continued from the previous post)


Your Dress:

First, have a game plan. Finding and buying your dress is an emotional and exciting event. Decide before you go if you need a blusher, a tiara, and other stuff that a sales person working on commission will surely try to sell you. Do you need the earrings at some specialty store or can you get them somewhere else with a coupon? Having a plan will help you stay on budget and not get carried away with the magic of the moment.


Find sales! I bought mine from David's Bridal. I did not pay full price. My goal was to spend less than $500. I walked into specialty shops, shared my goal with the sales ladies, and I got shocked reactions in return. Do listen to them. You can do it.


I tried on several dresses just to fine tune what style I wanted. The first dress I tried on was not ivory like I wanted, and it was a size too big, but it was PERFECT. I look at the price tag: $700. ::pouts:: I tried on a few other dresses, but kept thinking about that first dress. A few minutes later, the lady helping screams from across the store, "I FOUND IT!" She ran up with that perfect dress, in my size, AND ivory. Okay, I have to at least try it on. It was perfect. The women told me that DB was having a sale. All dresses were 25% off. Okay, I can try that. I double-check the tag; it reads $199. What?! With 25% off, my dress was $150. Yes.

Don't settle, trust your gut, but stay within budget. I would also encourage you to check out department stores for white dresses. Weddings today allow the bride to do whatever she wants. There are so many great dresses out there that can pass as a really elegant wedding dress. You can often find dresses in your color scheme if you want to save your bridesmaids money.

Also, don't buy new shoes for the occasion if you have an existing pair that could work. They are unnecessary. I wore a cute pair of flats that I already had. They weren't even ivory. They were silver with black lace. People thought they were a great unique touch. Little did they know that I was just trying to save a buck. Ha. Basically, don't believe the lie that tells you that you need something new for your big day. No, you don't.

Freezer Recipe: Making Beef and Bean Burritos in Bulk

I got this recipe from an AMAZING book called Fix, Freeze, Feast. A friend had told me about the book a few months ago, we did this recipe for her family, and now I just did it again for my own family. It takes a bit of work, but it is sooooo worth it.

The idea behind freezer meal in bulk is to save you money, time, and sanity. Many of the recipes that I will post are from this book. The authors gear the recipes to buy from warehouse stores like Costco or Sam's where you can often buy things cheaper by the pound when you buy it in bulk. The great thing here is that you are using all of your fresh ingredients before they spoil. You get homecooked meals from scratch, and you have a large assortment on hand for dinner when you need it.

I am HORRIBLE at planning ahead. My husband comes home from work and asks me whats for dinner. My answer? "Ummmmmmmmmm......."

Recipes like this one allow me to have it already made and ready. All I have to do is throw it in the oven. Bam. Dinner is ready.

I'll talk more about freezer meals later with other recipes, but lets get started with these burritos.

As one of the authors of Fix, Freeze, Feast describes these burritos, "We keep these on hand for quick lunches - homemade 'fast food.'" 100% truth right there.

This recipe makes about 40 burritos, so make sure you have room in your freezer for about 6 gallon size bags.

Ingredients:

1 Tray (6 lbs) Lean Ground Beef (cooked)
1 Cup taco seasoning
3 Cups of water
8 15-ounce cans of Refried Beans - any flavor
40 10-inch Flour Tortillas (I happened to buy mine in packs of 6, so I bought 7 of them, making 42 shells)
Mix-ins (Salsa, cilantro, cheese, onion, etc.) optional
Aluminum Foil - Sams sells Aluminum foil sheets. I bought those to save my sanity. It cut down my time for sure.
Gallon size Freezer Bags

Directions:

Brown your ground beef. Doing this much ground beef will take about 20 minutes.
Drain.
Add in taco seasoning and water. Bring to simmer. Let cook until most of the water has evaporated.
Let beef cool.

The next step I suggest is lay out your aluminum foil and your tortillas. I found that doing it this way allowed for my to do about 14 at a time, and I could be sure I added in everything I wanted to. My set up looked like this:

Notice my little helper.

This setup allowed for me to keep track of doing different fillings. I have a strange weakness for cilantro, so I made sure that some had that in there. My husband, however, does not share this love of cilantro with me, so I made sure that I had several groups without it. My kids like their burritos without onions. You see where I'm going with this. Just make sure you group them together and label your bags!

I strongly suggest you do not do this with a 1 year old running around. I turned around to grab something and I found her like this:

She stole a tortilla right off the table!

Once you have your set of burritos like you like them, wrap the burrito (Side note: Did you know that on the tortilla package, you can often find instructions on how to wrap it properly?) and then wrap it in tin foil. My tip for this step would be to lay out your foil and then lay your tortillas right on top. Before you wrap it, you should have something like this:

A burrito for my non-salsa/cilantro/onion-loving children of mine.

Once you have them wrapped, start putting them in freezer bags and put them in the freezer. I repeat, make sure you label your bags! My permanent marker *somehow* disappeared off of my desk. I chose to use some leftover Avery labels instead. Make sure you have the date on there as well.

Yummy goodness!

These burritos are good for about 3 months after you make them. If you're like me, I can eat Mexican food all day long. I know these won't go to waste around this house.

Now I bet you'd like to know how to cook them. Let me tell you. It's soooo easy!

To Cook:

You can thaw them out if you want or just bake straight from the freezer. If thawed, bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. If they are frozen, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

You can also cook them in the microwave if you're in a rush. Unwrap it (duh!), hit "Thaw" and then "Reheat."

Now, when my husband asks me what we're having for dinner, I can tell have an answer and food on the table quickly.

These are also fabulous for when you have guests come over. Ten people from church decide to come over? No problem! Just bust out your cookie sheet and a few bags of your burritos, and you are good to go.

My total burrito count: 41 (it would have been 42 if it hadn't been for some thievery)

Let me know if you try this recipe! I know I love it!

Getting Started

You should ask yourself why you want to save money. Keeping this motivation in mind will help you with your goals of saving pennies. When you want to give up or take a break, figure out if your goal should be a higher priority over convenience. Because let me tell you friends, the tips I'm going to be sharing are not what you do out of convenience. Many are hard work, some are just practical habit changes, regardless, if you find yourself spending too much now, you're going to need an adjustment.

My husband and I survived for 2.5 years off of unemployment and jobs that barely paid minimum wage. We were able to keep a roof over our heads, stay up to date with all of our bills, and still managed to live a life of great quality.

I will tell you now that I am no expert. Some of my tips are practical tips that we've just adjusted how we live. Others are ways that I'm still experimenting with. Over the next few months, I'm going to share ways to save and tutorials for money by making your own stuff (of the crafty and non-crafty variety), pinching pennies in the kitchen, ways to save energy (and go green!), and ways to keep focus. I'll also be inviting you, my readers, to email me questions you'd like to see, or if you have tips you'd like to share. I'll also be scouring the internet for additional ways to help you out.

Stayed tuned for I will be sharing my first tutorial soon!