How to Make Egg Rolls

Bok Choy, Napa cabbage, real water chestnuts (the kind you have to peel), celery, onion, ginger root, and garlic were just a few of the vegetables included in the Asian pack I ordered the last time I got a Bountiful Basket.

A friend of mine mentioned she used the veggies to make egg rolls from scratch. Intrigued, I asked for the recipe. Here is a photo tutorial for egg rolls, courtesy of my friend Donna (and her friend Karen, whose recipe this is). I will say, I thought it was going to be a time-consuming, involved process, but it wasn't too bad. Perfect for a Saturday night!

Step one: purchase egg roll wrappers from your grocery store and the needed vegetables. (I asked for help finding egg roll wrappers; at Safeway, they were in the produce department, in the refrigerated produce section--with pre-cut veggies, etc.) Although the brands will likely vary by region, here is a photo to show what you are looking for:

Step 2: cook 1 pound meat (whatever kind you want--pork, shrimp, ground beef, etc. I used ground beef)

Step 3: Shred a head of cabbage (I used about half a head of regular green cabbage in addition to some Napa cabbage)

--Chop one can water chestnuts

--grate a cup of carrots
--chop: 1 c. celery, 1/2 c. chopped onion, 2 c. mushrooms (or zucchini), 1/8 c. green pepper; be sure to chop finely or put in food processor

(*I added some Bok Choy in place of the mushrooms/zucchini and really liked it)

Step 4: Stir-fry veggies and add cooked meat of choice; then mix:

2 T. water, 2 T. soy sauce, 1 t. ground ginger (or 1 Tbs. fresh grated ginger root), 1 clove garlic (minced), 1 T. cornstarch; and pour sauce over meat and veggies, warm slightly, and let cool while preparing egg rolls.

Step 5: Unroll egg wrappers. On a lightly sprayed/buttered sheet of tin foil, lay egg wrapper as shown below. Scoop about a tablespoon of filling across bottom third of wrapper (I used my Pampered Chef cookie scoop)

• Fold bottom corner up

• Fold sides in

• Roll up

• Brush the top triangle lightly (very lightly) with water. Continue until all egg rolls are assembled before beginning to fry.

• Heat oil in a large, heavy pan (I used my Lodge Dutch Oven with about 2 inches of vegetable oil (although I think peanut oil would also be a great choice).

• Heat oil to 375-degrees. I used a candy/deep frying thermometer to closely watch the temperature, turning the burner up or down as needed during frying.
• Fry four to five egg rolls at a time, watching closely, and turning as they turn golden (or to desired doneness) (less than a few minutes per side)
• Drain on paper towels and serve!

The next day, I heated the leftover egg rolls in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes. In my opinion, they tasted even better this way. Some of the excess oil dripped out, and the egg rolls were very crispy still.

Here is a sauce recipe to try. This is not the typical red sweet-and-sour sauce you will find at the Chinese restaurants, but very good, nonetheless. (For a red sauce recipe, just Google it. Or try adding a few tablespoons of ketchup and a bit of clear corn syrup to this recipe--if you don't think corn syrup is evil, that is).

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 3/4 c. pineapple juice
• 1/4 c. vinegar (rice vinegar would be great)
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• Mix and cook until it becomes transparent

Sure, these aren't as simple as ordering Chinese take-out, but they taste fabulous! Definitely worth the effort. And fun!

(P.S. I'm on Pinterest now. Find me here)

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Works for Me Wednesday

Homemaking Link-Up

Frugal Friday

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Please Come Out of the Kitchen With Your Hands Up

Somewhere during the week of my last fairly labor-intensive menu plan (on the night I was making coconut shrimp from scratch, as in grating my own coconut, which just happened to be Valentine's Day), my husband glanced around at the giant mess of food prep covering our kitchen counter and not so much asked as suggested that we just have easy meals for awhile. "That's why my mom made Hamburger Helper so much, because it was easy," he said.

My husband may just as well have said, "Please come out of the kitchen with your hands up." I was under arrest for making too elaborate of meals. Actually, I think it was really for making too much of a mess during those meals!

Yet, with children all under six--while they can help a little in the kitchen (like shredding lettuce for tacos and putting out silverware and cups)--almost all of the food prep, cooking, and cleanup falls on my shoulders. Executing three meals a day, seven days a week, does become a little burdensome at times.

I truly enjoy cooking. To me, it's not only fun; it's my labor of love for my family. Sitting at the table as a family for dinner is like the crescendo of the orchestra: it's the point when all the work pays off and is celebrated. Or, at least, it should be.

So when your husband suggests you start making...ahem...Hamburger Helper instead "because it's easy," it feels like someone's asking Chopin to dumb it down and play Chopsticks instead of one of his masterpieces (not that I am drawing a comparison between myself in the kitchen and Chopin on the piano...). It kind of takes the wind out of your sails. But then you realize: he's right. Night after night, it is a lot of work. Let's find a way--in this season with a six-month old baby--to make it a little easier. It can still be healthy; it just doesn't have to be so labor intensive.

So this is the start of the week of easy meals.

In her book, Created to Be His Help Meet: Discover How God Can Make Your Marriage Glorious, Debi Pearl has a great section on making meals manageable, largely utilizing the crockpot, and sticking to the same basic meals each week.

She suggests peanut butter toast served on paper towels for breakfast, burritos from beans in the crockpot plus veggies for lunch, and a rotating list of simple evening meals.

Because I just can't bring myself to fully remove creativity from menu planning (and because I like to try new recipes), here is my list of more simple, but still enjoyable, recipes for the week:

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal with a little butter and brown sugar, fruit salad of blackberries/kiwi fruit/strawberries/clementines 
• Fried eggs, toast, clementines
• Applesauce bread, smoothies
• Yogurt, granola, blackberries
• French toast or waffles, orange juice
• Cold cereal and juice
• Pancakes, bacon
• Veggie scramble and toast

Lunches:

• Taco salad
• Leftover beef stew
• Southwest salad (corn, black beans, cheddar cheese over romaine. Dressing: mix Ranch with salsa) and tortilla chips
• Homemade macaroni and cheese, mixed vegetables
• Beans and rice on tortillas (like tacos)

Dinners:

• Crockpot beef stew, salad, crescent rolls (in the can--that's easy)
• Crockpot creamy chicken and mushroom pasta, asparagus, garlic parmesan bread (from Walmart)
• Creamy shells with tuna and spinach (from the latest issue of Everyday Food,but here is the closest recipe link), cooked carrots
• Cuban black beans, rice, tortillas (again from Everyday Food,--I could not find the recipe online)
• Skillet ziti with chicken and broccoli (but probably making it in the crockpot instead) over pasta with salad and bread
• Pizza, carrot and celery sticks
• Sausage Rigatoni, salad, garlic bread 

I'd love to hear your easiest, go-to meals, and ways you streamline weeknight meals! Do you make the same things every week? Do you often use your crockpot?

(linked up with Menu Plan Monday)

A Roll of Toilet Paper a Day: How to Make it Last Longer

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With little boys who are learning to do things themselves--including taking care of themselves in the bathroom--there are both pros and cons. The upside is there are fewer, "Mommy, I'm done!" calls to respond to. This in itself is a huge milestone in motherhood. I would just get one taken care of, and wash my hands, and then another little boy would run in the bathroom. Repeat. Wash. Repeat. Wash. It's no wonder my hands are so dry in the winter, from all that handwashing!

The downside, however, is I've noticed we are going through a lot of toilet paper, as in a roll a day (or two days max). Is that normal? I don't know. I remember a few years ago when Sheryl Crow tried to tell everyone to use only one square of toilet paper, and more for those "pesky jobs." I know that's also not normal.

What I do know is I've come up with a plan to try to stretch it out a little and save some money.

1) Train the boys to take no more than five to six sheets at a time. Die-hard frugal zealots recommend three to four sheets, but sorry, I prefer things a little more cushy.
2) Train them to fold it in half, then in half again. Then there is still enough area to fold in half again before having to start over with new toilet paper.
3) I found this idea here. It's kind of interesting. "Separate two-ply paper into two rolls. A friend of mine swears this works. When she gets home from the store, she and the kids go to work separating out the two ply roll so that there is a layer or 'ply' per roll. She uses empty toilet paper tubes to roll the separated toilet paper and keep things neat."
I'm sure you could save money this way but I'd prefer to save time and just buy the toilet paper.
4) I know some people use newspaper and other items (like cut flannel). Yet, there are just some places where I draw the line. We are not in a third world country. I can afford to buy toilet paper. I prefer to.
5) I really like the Charmin brand best. So I watch for good sales, use coupons when I can, and stock up when it's on sale. A few weeks ago, our Kroger-affiliate, Smith's, had 12 double rolls of Charmin for $5.99.

A few weeks before that there were $2 off coupons in the blinkie by the toilet paper. I took a couple. The coupons were gone during the sale, but I had saved mine for such a time as this. I think I bought four packs. We're on our last one now, hoping to stretch it until the next decent sale.

It is a bit tongue-in-cheek that I ask this, but still, I'm curious to know--
How quickly does toilet paper disappear in your house and what have you done to conserve?

Frugal Friday: Check the Ad

Our grocery store circulars arrive every Wednesday along with our community newspaper (as long as our young carrier actually leaves a paper at our house that week!). I love to flip through and see what's on sale and look for those really great buys (if there are any that week).

On my last few shopping trips, I've realized how important it is to look at the ad before (or at least during) shopping. While stickers on the shelves should reflect sale prices, sometimes they do not. For example, I went to Target a few weeks ago to pick up Camelbak Kids Water Bottles--advertised to be 20% off.  Yet, when I found the items in the store, there was nothing there to indicate that they were on sale. Had I just been shopping through the aisles, I would have totally missed the sale (and probably never would have bought the items).

The same thing happened to me at Safeway, although I can't remember what it was now that I was buying--just that it was a great buy in the ad and not marked on the shelf. This caused me to double check the ad to make sure the item I wanted to be was indeed on sale.

Another benefit to checking the ad is that some of the grocery store circulars contain coupons that you can use, usually along with a manufacturer coupon. But when you find Prego spaghetti sauce on the shelf, for example, although there may be a tag advertising the sale price, there will not be a tag screaming, "Grab the ad! On page four, there's a coupon for me, for an even better price!"

Lately, our Smith's (Kroger-affiliate) store has been advertising in the weekly circulars additional digital coupons available on items. But you won't find this information by the product in the store. It's only in the ad.

Looking through your grocery ads each week only takes a few minutes. The pay-off is it allows you to gain valuable, money-saving information. Don't go to check out without them!

(linked to Frugal Friday).

Super Frugal, Semi-Fun Date Idea

By the time you budget for a sitter, there usually isn't a whole lot left over for the date. But we all know how important those date-nights with our hubbies are (of course, you could always have one at home. See some ideas on how to make this happen here). A friend told me their favorite date night idea is to head to Sam's Club and hang out on the furniture and talk. I love it! My husband, not so much. (But I think he could be convinced to give it a try).

To make this more fun, you could stop and pick up some coffees or other tasty beverages before heading over to your local big-box store. You could also eat an inexpensive dinner or snack in the cafe section. Share a pizza? A sundae?  Just don't tire your husband out by grabbing all the items on your regular grocery list. Remember, this is date night!

Who knew club memberships could have marriage benefits as well?

(linked to Frugal Friday and Works for Me Wednesday)

Frugality and Convenience

Often, in the interest of saving money, we sacrifice convenience. Whether it be making our own foods from scratch rather than buying pre-made mixes, washing and chopping whole fruits and vegetables instead of buying pre-cut, or making our own homemade cleaners rather than grabbing something off the shelf at the store, we trade a bit of time for a bit of savings. Most of us don't mind. We know those savings can add up.

But sometimes, at different seasons of our lives, we may choose to pay a bit more for the convenience of having something ready-made. If we are frugal by nature, this might be difficult at first, but let's remember, it's just a choice to buy a benefit for a season. Another option is to come up with our own frugal version of the commercial product.

For example, right now, our kitchen mop is unwieldy for the boys. But the Swiffer Wet-Jet is just the right size for them. They'll mop the floor for me with the Swiffer. Yet, the refill pads are a bit more than I'd prefer to pay. It feels like a waste. Yet...would I take the trade-off: spend some money I wouldn't ordinarily spend to make it convenient for the boys to take over cleaning the floor? In this season, I think I will settle for that. (Update: I realized I could take some old wash rags or microfiber cleaning cloths--bought at the Dollar Tree--and use clothes pins to attach them to the Swiffer; a workable more frugal and environmentally friendly solution).

However, I'm going to skip buying the bottle of refill solution. Because the boys love to push the squirt button, too much solution ends up on the floor, and that is a waste. So I give them a squirt bottle with water mixed with Shaklee's Basic-H (or you could do water and vinegar, or another combination), have them squirt a small area, then wipe it with the Swiffer. (Update: Also at the Dollar Tree, I found a bottle of Mop and Shine. Just squirt it out and then wipe it up. This is another option).

When the baby comes, I may also spend a little money that normally I think is unnecessary to buy paper plates and some convenience foods that my husband or I can prepare quickly and easily. Hamburger Helper isn't my preferred dinner of choice, but if I can give the box to my husband and it gets me out of cooking dinner during the week or two post-baby, so be it. A trade off for a time.

What are some trade-offs you've chosen to make to save time right now, or vice versa--to save money? Or...what are some frugal ways you've found to substitute your own version of common convenience products, such as the Swiffer pads and solution?

(linked to Works for Me Wednesday)

Cash Envelopes and Financial Peace

We've been faithfully using our cash envelope system for about six months now, and I love it. At first I wished our budget allowed for a larger amount to go into the various envelopes, but after adjusting to that, I really like the discipline it forces. If we don't have the money in the envelope, we simply don't buy whatever it may be that we'd otherwise be interested in. Sure, this means we aren't doing a lot recreationally, for example. But what we do choose to do or purchase, we enjoy more, because we're making a very conscious choice to use money in that way (and most likely we had to save up for it).

This higher degree of discipline with our money has enabled us to pay off all but $400-some dollars on my OB bill of $4,114 plus a $440 ultrasound, plus about $100-worth of labs. I also see God's supernatural hand of provision in there, because I can't believe we've been able to do that. We'll still have a hospital bill, but this experience encourages me that we'll find a way to get that paid off too. (Prayers for a healthy, non-complicated birth and baby are much appreciated!).

We found that the restriction of using the cash envelope system brings about financial peace. Once we learn to live within the budget, we have greater control over our money. There are no longer the $10-here, $20-there "small" purchases with the debit card (or uncategorized cash) that can add up to $50 or more a month. If I look in our food envelope, for example, and see that we're dipping below a certain point, and I still have groceries to buy, there will not be any running through the Wendy's drive-thru on a night I may not feel like cooking. We're telling our money where it's going, and we're making thoughtful decisions about it. This discipline allows the money to grow. It feels good.

The other benefit of the cash envelope system is that we're faithfully putting money into categories, such as our home, that previously never got funded. We'd always look at our checking balance and feel like we couldn't afford to spend money on this or that, so we wouldn't, unless it was an emergency. This way, we're designating some money each check to those previously unfunded categories. If we don't need to spend it, it grows. We'll be able to paint the house or purchase new carpet at some point, because we can see that the money's there.

So this Coffee Talk Thursday, let's talk budgets. Do you use one? Do you love it, or do you find a budget too restrictive? If so, I would encourage you to give it another try. I know some of you have said in the past that you use an electronic budget instead of a cash-envelope system. That's great, too. The envelopes just work better for me, since the cash is more tangible. I'd love to hear what's working for you.

(Linked to Frugal Friday)

Coffee Talk: Why I Both Love and Hate Couponing

I consider myself a fairly frugal shopper. I love finding bargains, I rarely buy anything full price, and for the most part, I discipline my purchases to only buy what we truly need. So when it comes to using coupons, I find I can often do better by either not buying the item to begin with--finding, instead, a more frugal alternative or doing without altogether.  However, I still like to peruse the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper and on Internet sites like coupons.com. Usually, I'll find at least a few that I can use, and I'll save a bit more money at the store by pairing these coupons with good sales.

So what I love about coupons is the extra savings they can provide.

But here's what I don't like about couponing.

First, our Sunday paper does not receive the same coupons found in a larger city paper. This can be discouraging and frustrating when I read about the deals certain bloggers advertise, and I can't take advantage of those deals because I don't have the right coupons.  Right from the start, I'm at a disadvantage there.

Second, when I really try to give couponing a good effort and get really into it, I find myself becoming a little too obsessive about it. I don't like what it does to my psyche. :) It starts to feel like a game, and, as a perfectionist, I want to excel at it. So when I can't score the same deals as the big coupon blogs describe, I get frustrated.

But let's say I push past all that. Trying to score the deal can also be frustrating. With the rise in popularity of extreme couponing there is a lot of competition among shoppers to get the deals that are out there. For example, Target has a coupon for $1 off a Nivea lotion. There is a coupon from the insert for $3 off this lotion, making it only $1. But everytime I've looked for it, it's been out of stock. Target is on the other side of town for me, and I'm not going to make a special trip to save a few dollars on a lotion. (Again, that goes back to: 1) do I really need that lotion? Is there a more inexpensive one to begin with, and 2) Do I need lotion at all?).

Another example--Walgreens is running a register rewards deal on men's Gillette products (shaving cream, deodorants, body wash, etc.). I have buy one, get one free coupons for all of those items, and $2 off coupons that I can use with the buy one, get one free. Altogether, I would spend $10 out of pocket for $30-worth of stuff for my husband, and I would get $10 in a register reward. So essentially all of that would be free.

The other day, I dropped off a roll of film at Walgreens and checked the price of these items, to see how much they were to begin with. The product shelves were fully stocked. An hour later, when I returned to get my film, the shelves were completely wiped out. An extreme couponer, I'm assuming, came by and cleaned everything out. That's the part that makes me grouchy. If I still wanted to try to get the register reward, I'd have to time it just right to be at the store when the shelves were restocked so another extreme couponer with bad manners doesn't come and wipe everything out again. It can start to feel too frantic.

But if I just back away, I realize my husband does not need all that stuff. Sure, he wants antiperspirant. But I can use my buy one, get one free coupon to buy him two on sale somewhere, and he'll be a happy camper. I'll spend a few dollars out of pocket, and I'll be a happy camper, too, because I'm not getting caught up in the fact that Walgreens continues to not have the products for the register reward, and I can't get the deals, and wah-wah...

All that to say, I decided it's in my best interest to be a moderate couponer. I'll watch the sales and see if there are any coupons that match up real well. But I'm not going to go tons out of my way to score those deals. I've tried it, and like I said, I don't like what it does to my personality. I get much too caught up in it. It's much better for me if I can back away and realize that getting three salad dressings at Albertson's for .60 cents each (versus almost $2 each) is really not worth the hassle of making a special trip out on a Tuesday night before the sale ends to pick those up. Besides, making homemade dressing is usually less than .60 cents anyway. But, I love saving $3 off any size pack of Huggies diapers. That makes them the same price as the generic brand, and I think they're better quality. Diapers, we need. Store-bought dressing, not so much. It all comes down to perspective.

I'd love to hear what you think about couponing. Does it work well for you? If you coupon, how do you keep from getting too wrapped up in it? On the other hand, maybe you are ok with devoting a lot of time and thought to it, and it pays off in the savings you get. That's great! We're all different, and we're all going to reach different conclusions on it. What works best for your family and budget? Let's talk!

Tax Prep for Less

I was on the phone with a friend, checking if her daughter could baby-sit for us so we could go to our appointment with our accountant sans kids. My friend asked me if I have ever tried to do our own taxes online. She said that the software these programs use is much like what the accountants use, except you don't have to pay the accountant (which, in our experience, has added up to a fairly hefty sum). You can try the program, entering information as prompted, and it does all the calculations for you. You can even see your current refund amount, or what you would owe, as you go along.

At the end, you can preview your return and choose whether to submit it using the online service. By that point, I had already done all the work (with the software's help, of course!), so I felt like this year--as much as we like him--our accountant's help was an unnecessary expense. Besides, this way I am in control of when our return gets filed, which also means we can get our refund sooner than being dependant upon the accountant's schedule of when he could get to it.

The online site my friend recommended is TaxAct Online (although I'm sure there are others and this is not an official endorsement for them). You can file for free, but I opted to use the deluxe version (which is what my friend recommended too), and it was $9.95. Would I do it again next year? Absolutely. If you ever run into trouble (although the questions prompt you through everything clearly), you can email in a question for help from an online tax advisor with the service, or you could always consult with an accountant or decide to go see him or her after all.

If you haven't filed your taxes yet, and want to save on accountant's fees, I encourage you to try TaxACT!

Favorite Frugal, Natural Cleaners

A few years ago, after the birth of our first son, I remember asking my mom questions about what my grandma (and my mom's grandma) used to clean with. What products did she use? Surely, back then, Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner, Pledge, Clorox wipes, and a host of other products did not exist. What the generations that preceded us used were arguably frugal and efficient. So what were they?

My mom said: vinegar and baking soda.

They worked great then; they still work great today.

I was interested in going back to basic cleaners not only because they save money, but also because with little boys who get into mischief, I didn't want anything around that could poison them. Vinegar and baking soda won't taste great, but they won't hurt my kids either.

Since then, I've continued to look into more natural cleaners. I found a great list online of formulas you can make on your own using common household items, like vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide.  Here's the list I found:
http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

Here's some of my favorite formulas:

• I mop the floor with about 1 c. of white vinegar to about a gallon of hot water. Sometimes I add a few drops of an essential oil.
• Furniture polish=olive oil, some lemon juice
• Scour sinks and our porcelain tub with baking soda
• 1 c. of vinegar and 1/4 c. baking soda to clean the toilet
• Make your own magic eraser
• Clean the shower (and remove scale deposits) with a hydrogen peroxide/water solution (about 3:1) in an spray bottle
• Laundry detergent

Do you make your own cleaning formulas? What are some of your favorites?

Good Buys at Warehouse Clubs

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A friend wondered the other day what the best buys were at Sam's Club. We don't have a Costco here, so I can't address that (I imagine they would be similar), but I can address what I find to be a good deal at Sam's.

First of all, our membership is a group membership paid for through my husband's employer. If it were not, I am not convinced the savings would justify the cost of the membership. So that's the first step--pricing it out and seeing if it makes sense for your family.

That said, here is what I find to be worth the trip:

• Possibly laundry detergent (They used to carry ERA, and the price of All Free and Clear is comparable with finding it on a great sale at the grocery store; other detergents are probably less expensive on sale at the store)
• This is the only place I can find a large pack of flour sack towels, which I love to use for drying dishes.
• I buy almonds and walnuts from Sam's, as well as dried fruit (Craisins are a better deal at Sams than at the grocery)
• Romaine lettuce. You can buy a pack of eight romaine hearts for $3-something. A pack of three at the grocery store are $3. Wash them and store them wrapped in damp paper towels or flour sack towels, and they keep in the frig for a couple of weeks.
• Fresh produce at times. You can get 5-pound bags of apples for .99 cents per pound. Big bags of carrots are a dollar-something. Lately, the strawberries and grapefruits have been wonderful--better quality than I find at the supermarket. But the prices are comparable with produce on sale at the store.
• Frozen vegetables. Great quality broccoli florets and other vegetable blends for $4 for a huge bag (or two bags). Much better quality than I find at the store, and less expensive.
• Bread (when I don't make my own). The kind we like is less expensive at Sam's than at the grocery store.
• Dry Pasta (although great store sales can beat the Sam's price).
• Vitamins. I bought a large container of Flinstone's Complete on sale at Target. Then I went to Sam's Club. An even larger container was a dollar less.
• Meat. It is choice, which is a higher grade than select (what most grocery stores carry). Sometimes, you can find meat on markdown or you can find certain cuts for a good price per pound. Chicken breasts are almost always $1.99/pound (the sale price at most grocery stores), and sometimes they go to $1.79.
• Cheese, depending. I read once that shredded cheese is less expensive at Sam's than a grocer, but block cheese is cheaper if you wait until it's on sale at the grocery store. Tillamok is a great quality brand we have in our region; a friend told me it melts better in baking. If you can't find it on sale, it is a better buy at Sam's.  
• I buy frozen concentrate orange juice in a family-sized 6-pack at Sam's.
• Sometimes clothes. I usually walk through and see if anything's a great bargain. I just got my boys two-piece Reebok athletic suits (zip-up jacket and pants) for $4.91 each.
• Books/cookbooks, and the specialty books table. It's worth browsing through. Sometimes you can pick up some neat gifts for a good price.
• Dog food.
• Plastic wrap.
• Spices, oil, honey, maple syrup. A 25 pound bag of flour is about $6, but usually once a year (around Thanksgiving), one of the grocery stores will advertise flour for $1 for a 5-pound bag, and I stock up on white flour then.
• Oatmeal. I buy a box of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats with 2 large bags inside for about $6. This is the best price in town (unless it's the once-a-year-$1-a-large-carton sale).
• Eggs maybe, if you otherwise get them from a store. Sometimes they're .60 cents a dozen, sometimes they're more.
• Electronics sometimes. Worth checking prices. My husband has found the best buys at Sam's on the items he's wanted.

Here are some items I think are not good deals:

• Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.)--you can almost always find these on sale at the grocery store, or Target/Walgreens/CVS, which make them a better buy
• Diapers. Better on sale with a coupon at a different store.
• Most canned goods (usually less expensive on sale at the store, or in a case lot sale at Kroger affiliates), but if you don't feel like waiting, the prices are pretty good.
• Cereal, snack food bars. Grocery store sales beat the Sam's price.

I am probably leaving some things out. What do you find to be a great buy at warehouse clubs? (P.S. Jonni McCoy writes about this subject in her book Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy).

A Free Peek into The Womb

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I marvel at the wonder of pregnancy--the knowledge that an intricate human being is being formed each day in my womb. An ultrasound offers a peek into the womb. It always fascinates me to see what the baby is doing, unbeknowst to the outside world.

Ultrasounds are also expensive. We will have one with our doctor in the next few weeks. It will cost $451 dollars. Without insurance, on top of the $4,000-some dollar OB bill, it adds up. But it is possible to have a free ultrasound.

Our local Care-Net Pregnancy Resource Center offers free training ultrasounds. These offer the nurses additional training in measuring babies at various stages of pregnancy. They like women to volunteer so they can get this extra practice. Women who volunteer get a peek at their baby in the womb, at no cost. It's a win-win for everyone.

I have had two ultrasounds at Care-Net. Whereas the doctor's ultrasound is usually more medical ("let's find the organs and systems and move on"), the Care-Net nurses--in my experience--let you marvel longer at your baby. They have to gather their measurements, sure, but for the most part, you can watch what the baby is doing, unhindered by the necessity to take another measurement, or move the monitor to see the spine, etc.

I am not sure if all Care-Nets offer the free training ultrasound, but if you're pregnant, or know someone who is, it's certainly worth calling and checking into.

Coffee Talk Thursday: E-Mealz?

Coffee Talk Thursday

I listen to Dave Ramsey's radio show, and one of the ads you hear frequently is for E-Mealz. I know several people who use the service and seem to really like it. I think it would be particularly great for people who are too busy to menu plan and shop around sales. When I've looked into it, though, I come away thinking two things:

1) Do I really want someone else to menu plan for me? (I kind of like doing it myself)

2) I think my menu plans are more frugal than theirs. For example, on the Kroger sample menu, the pork chops are on sale for $3.97/lb. When I menu plan, I aim for meats $2/lb. and less whenever possible. So that week, if I was menu planning for our family on my own, that is a meal that I wouldn't even include on our menu plan, because it does not meet my personal price-point.

Yet, lately, I am wondering if it's worth giving it a try for a month. After all, it is only $5 for a month's subscription. Plus, it might be fun to have someone think of new meal ideas for you. It's a great way to try some new recipes. I could test it out and see if I save more planning my own meals, or if you really do save money on their plans.

So what do you think? Do you use it? Do you love it? Or do you like planning your own meals and find that you save more money that way?

 

The Hair Academy

For the past several weeks, I've been needing a hair cut, and I wanted to get my highlights touched up. But the salon I usually go to charges $26 for a hair cut, and $85 for a cut and color--definitely not in the "having-a-baby-without-insurance" budget. So when an acquaintance posted on Facebook that her daughter was now accepting clients at one of the local beauty academies, I thought it might be a win-win for both of us: she gets the practice she needs for school, and I get a hair cut and highlights for a fraction of the cost--$7 for a hair cut, $20 for highlights.

The best part is she did a fabulous job, and I will definitely be going back!

In our town, there are three cosmetology schools. The one I went to is the newest, and according to reputation, the trendiest. Instructors come around to check everything, and the instructor who checked my hair worked for years as a cosmetologist. I actually heard of him when I was still working in news. Supposedly, he is pretty good at doing hair.

This academy is a full-service training salon. You can get a manicure for $6, a spa pedicure for $25 (which is only slightly less than at a regular salon around here), and other services. If I had a little girl, I think it would be fun to go for budget-friendly-mother-daughter manicures. 

If you're looking for a way to save on hair cuts, I encourage you to check into your local beauty academies. You'll not only save money, you might just come away with a great hair-do too! It can be our secret. :)

Emergency Funds and Financial Peace

In his books, on his radio program, and in his Financial Peace workshops, Dave Ramsey counsels individuals and families to build an emergency fund. First, work to build a basic fund with $1,000; then, a fund containing three to six months of living expenses. These accounts would preferably be a high-interest (around 6-12%) money-market account, which you can write checks from with no withdrawal fees. You would only withdraw money in a true emergency (not because you've saved up a nice wad of cash and want to take a vacation). I haven't found an account that pays that great of interest yet, but that's hardly the hardest part of the emergency fund.


For us, although there have been times when we've had some money in savings, when you're raising small children--and multiple small children--there's always something that cleans out the account. Since we have a high amount of medical expenses with my husband's back injury that are not covered by insurance, it is tremendously difficult to save money each month. Plus, in a month where perhaps we could save, if one of the kids comes down with a nasty bug and needs a doctor's visit, that's $70-$80 out of pocket, plus any needed prescriptions. A trip for the boys to the dentist every six months is around $300 (we don't have dental insurance).

Suffice it to say, I'm more accustomed to saving for particular items than just to save for savings' sake. But let's say I am saving for no particular reason except to save. In the middle of the process, maybe the brakes need to be replaced on the van, or my husband needs an eye exam and new glasses, or the roof starts leaking and needs to be redone. It seems like there's always something that keeps us from meeting our saving goals.
While I don't have any magical answers on how to create a fully-funded emergency fund, what I can offer you is some practical ways to save.

1. For us, I'm working to trim expenses in other areas to free up some extra money that can be saved. Even if it has to be used for something along the way, at least there's something in the account.
2. Second, even if it's just twenty dollars, when you deposit your husband's check (or your own), split some money to savings right on the deposit slip. (If you don't know how to do this, a teller can show you.)
3. Are there any ways you (or your husband) can increase your family's income? Can you take some clothes to the consignment store or sell them on ebay? Can you or your husband find a way to earn some extra money from home?
4. Eat out less, or not at all, and save what you would have spent.
5. Making breakfasts from scratch (not buying cereal, bagels, etc.) saves quite a bit. Think oatmeal, eggs (fried, scrambled, hard-boiled), pancakes, waffles, crepes, muffins, etc. Think of creative ways to save on lunches and dinners too (I'll keep sharing what I learn in the Healthy $10 a Day Menus).
6. Browse thrift-stores if you haven't already. You can find great clothing and housewares for pennies. Of course, not all thrift stores are created equal. Here is a post I wrote with some thrift-store shopping tips: http://momsinneedofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/10/oh-how-i-love-thrift-store-shopping.html
7. Buy plastic wrap and spices in bulk (like from Sams or Costco)
8. Browse through the "Saving Money" category on the sidebar of my blog for more ideas.

I'd love to hear how you successfully save money. What are some of your biggest challenges to saving?

(linked to Works for Me Wednesday)

Cash Envelopes and Financial Peace

Our church is starting Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. While we don't have any debt other than our mortgage right now (although I am sure we will accumulate some medical debt with the baby), I think it will be good to go through it and get more saving and investment ideas.  Have you ever taken the classes?

You probably know that a big part of Dave's system is using cash envelopes. I definitely like the idea behind cash envelopes--giving every category a budgeted amount and staying within that amount. But for us, the problem we've ran into in the past is it's not always practical.

For example, let's say you're at the grocery store (a big one like Walmart--wink), and you happen to pass by a really great kids' clothes' clearance: a dollar for shirts and a few dollars for pants. This is a great deal, and you can stock up on sizes the kids will need for next fall, but you only have your grocery envelope with you, because you didn't know you would need to take your clothing envelope with you. So do you use the grocery money for the clothes and put clothing money in the grocery envelope when you get home?

Or let's say you go to the park with a friend. Afterwards, she suggests taking the kids out to lunch at somewhere like the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. But you didn't anticipate this, so you don't have your recreation envelope with you. Do you just go ahead and use your debit card and try to line everything up later?

It's situations like these that caused my husband and I to decide that, for us, it was just easier and more practical to use one big cash envelope for everything. No more accounting headaches or unpredictable situations where you don't have the right envelope. There's just one envelope with grocery money plus gas money and spending money inside.

As we go through the classes, we may go back to the old cash envelope system, just to give it another try. Plus, I think the envelope system included in the Financial Peace kit is more like a wallet, with all the categories included inside. That would definitely make it easier to stay on track.

I'd love to talk about emergency funds, too, but let's save that for another time!

So this Coffee Talk Thursday, let's talk about it! Do you use a cash envelope system? Do you love it or also find it can be problematic? How do you make it work for you?

(linked to Works for Me Wednesday)

Oh, The Places You Won't Go

So I have my own version of Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Oh, the places you won't go,

The things you won't see

When gas prices climb higher than three

It's time to stay home,

Find new things to do,

Projects and games and outside walks too.

What can you sort?

What can you do?

What can you read to thing one and thing two (and three and four and more)?

You'll find if you stretch how long you can go

Whizzing out and about

Why, wouldn't you know?

You'll save money and gas,

and even better than that...

You'll be content to be home,

You'll learn to like it like that

Many adventures await,

Many dollars are saved

When you say no to load up and go.

On a practical note, I fill up our minivan every two weeks when my husband gets paid. Gas prices where we live are just under $3 a gallon right now. It costs about $50 to fill up. This fill-up must last us until the next pay-day.

We really don't go many places during a week, and I honestly prefer it that way. Too many errands and appointments on the calendar for too many days in a row just stress me out. We have church on Wednesday night for AWANA, Sunday morning and Sunday night (Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is starting up). I take my boys to a homeschool art class on Wednesday afternoons, but it's only a half-mile from our house. There is a homeschool phys ed class on Tuesday's and Thursday's, which we attended once a week in the fall, but I'm not sure we'll continue this semester. (Besides, the boys get plenty of physical activity during the day anyway!).

Maybe you prefer your family to be involved in many activities and don't mind paying for the gas it takes to drive everyone everywhere they need to be during the week. It's a personal decision, as your budget allows. I am lucky to live in the center of town, where everything I need is quite close. But if it wasn't, and if I wanted to save money (and gas is a biggie), I would take a hard look at where we're going and if those trips are really necessary.

On a tangent, since I used to work in the media, I find it so interesting how the media is choosing not to cover the rise in gas prices. The media claims to be neutral and unbiased, but that's so not true. Their bias comes through in so many ways: in the stories they choose to cover (and not to cover), and the ways in which they cover them. During the Bush presidency, for example, the media constantly reported on how high gas prices were going and what the president was, or was not, doing to address the issue. That same media coverage seems to be absent from the Obama presidency. Sometimes I wonder if the rise in gas prices, and the apparent lack of doing anything about it, is an intentional decision by the administration to drive us all toward solar-powered vehicles.

Regardless of what the government does, or doesn't do, to affect the price of gas, I can affect how much we pay for it simply by limiting the places we go.

How are you dealing with the increase in gas prices?

(Linked to Works for Me Wednesday)

Messy Monday: Organizing Coupons

Since we've been getting the Sunday paper on a special for $10 for 10 weeks, I've collected quite a few more coupons than usual. (Normally, without the paper, I just check what's on coupons.com before heading to the store). I browse through them when they first come so that I can get a general idea of what's in each insert, save the whole insert without clipping coupons from it, and tuck them in my purse when I go to the store, along with any printouts from online coupon sources.

The problem with this is that the more you get, the messier it gets. Plus, I waste time at the store shuffling through the inserts, trying to find that one coupon I just know I have and want to use (or I forget about specific coupons altogether). Then at home, if the boys go digging through my purse in search of gum, there are coupon inserts everywhere, with the inevitable question from my husband, "Can we just throw these away?" (To which I answer, "Just put them back in my purse, please, honey.")

In an effort to get my coupons more organized, I bought a 5x7 plastic index card/recipe box at the Dollar Tree a bit ago. Unfortunately, the store only sold alphabetized tabs for the 3x5 boxes, so I have to figure out a categorizing system of my own. I'm thinking of just using large index cards, which I'll label by category.

Which brings me to today's question:

If you coupon, how do you organize your coupons?

Now's the Time for Winter Clearance

One of my friends posted on Facebook that The Children's Place is having a great clearance sale right now, and it gets even better when you use the coupon code RETAILMENOT1C for an extra 15% off. Many items are $5 or less. If you need some items for next fall/winter, it's worth checking out.

Yesterday we ran to Target to pick up a few things, and they had a lot of things on clearance too--especially toys leftover from Christmas for 50% off. Winter boots hit clearance, but I stopped by a little too late and missed out on the selection (only a few sizes were left). The clearance racks were packed with kids' clothes.

I've blogged before about Sears' KidVantage program (where they will replace clothing and shoes that gets holes or tears in it while the child is still in that size). If you have time, it may be worth checking what's on clearance at Sears (prices may continue to get lower up until March). If you can get a brand-new shirt for $2.50 (or less), and you know if anything happens to it, the store will replace it with something similar, that beats thrift store prices.

Have a great day!

Saving Money by Staying out of Walmart

Photo credit

I know some people have personal problems with shopping at the major chain store, Walmart. I personally do not have any problem with shopping there, but right now, for this season, I'm finding I do better financially if I stay out of the store. Since I'm intentionally working to save money by trimming grocery costs, this is a big revelation for me.

It all started a few weeks ago when I read an enlightening coupon column in the Sunday paper. The coupon expert said that most shoppers will do better shopping the sales at their local grocery store than shopping at the major chain store. The reason is because the everyday low price at a store like Walmart will be lower than 50% of items at the grocery store but higher on other items that are on sale at smaller stores. While Walmart will price match a competitor's ad, many of the sales one finds in the grocery stores are in-store specials and not advertised in the weekly flyer. 

Plus, while it may be purely psychological, when I'm going through the grocery store, I proceed with caution. I feel like the prices on some items may be higher than what I could find at say, Walmart, so I do not buy them. When I'm at Walmart, on the other hand, the selection is huge (if the products are on the shelf!), and I feel a green light to grab items I avoid at the store, simply because the price is lower. Yet, in the end, I spend more, because I'm buying more. Sure, it's a self-discipline issue, but if I know this about myself, and am trying to save money, I need to avoid temptation.  

Lately, I have been saving money by shopping at our small, local Safeway. It was built in the 1920's and hasn't changed much since. I love the fact that there's usually few people in the store at any one time (making it easier with my boys), the other shoppers are usually in their 80's (which is kind of neat, and most of them enjoy seeing young boys), and I know the cashiers--and they know me. 

Generally, I think Safeway's non-sale prices are quite high (I think Kroger has the lowest everyday prices), but recently the store has advertised some really good sales; pairing the sales with coupons (which they double to $1.00) makes for some really great deals (like .79 for a box of Cheerios). I've saved the most money, though, on dairy products. At our store, dairy is marked down 50% off five days before the expiration date. That means I've snagged gallons of milked for $1.25, yogurt for about a dollar (Yoplait 4-packs, Dannon 8-packs,  Lucerne 6 packs of 6-ounce yogurts for a mere $1.10). I've also found sour cream, cottage cheese, and blocks of cheese half-price. (I've never found dairy close to the expiration date marked down at Walmart).

I may venture into Walmart when I need laundry detergent (unless I make my own), cleaning supplies, and diapers. I may check for produce deals and grab a few items while I'm there (like dried beans), but other than that, for right now, I'll keep more money in my purse if I just say no.

What about you? Do you love to shop at Walmart, or do you find you do better with your budget if you stay out and shop your local grocery store?

(linked to What Doesn't Work for Me and Frugal Friday)