I fixed my sewing room chair.

I have been wanting to fix my sewing room chair for a while now.  It would slowly get lower and lower until I had to stand up and pull the handle to raise it.  Jeff said to order a new one but I wanted to try something first.

I went out to the shed and got a piece of big pvc pipe.  I cut it ten inches long and washed it up.  Then I took the bottom part off the chair and slipped the pvc pipe over the post of the chair.  I replaced the bottom of the chair, taped the little piece that holds it on and flipped it over.

I think it will work.  I wont be able to lower the chair but that is okay.  I always had to make the chair higher for my long legs.

I'm happy that I fixed the chair in about 15 minutes using stuff we had around the place and saved who knows how much on a new chair. 

That is my frugal fix for today and I'm hoping it works because I'm pretty proud of myself.

Price book

Years ago I kept a price book.  I wrote down the size and price of groceries when I bought them along with the name of the store I shopped at.  I had let that habit go and decided its time to make a new one.

  Next time we go to Sam's I want to write down the prices of the items I buy often.  Then I will compare them to the prices I can get with Amazon prime.  If I can get the same price and not have to go to the store I will sure be doing that.  We live quite far away from stores, and that is the way I like it but it does make shopping harder.  We have learned though to go early in the morning and get it done and get home before all the crazy people go out shopping.  We call them crazy because none of us like crowds and you will not find us among the holiday shopper frenzy. 

Do you keep a price book?

Some things I do to save a bit of money

     Growing up my grandpa Sonday always had a handkerchief in his pocket, and he used it.  I don't know how many he used in a day but I don't think there was even such a thing as disposable tissues.  And if there was I am sure he would think it a waste.  When he died my grandma gave me one of his  clean handkerchiefs as a memory of him.  I still have it in my childhood jewelry box.

       I don't know when disposable tissues came out but we got in the habit of using them instead of a handkerchief.  We also got used to using toilet paper and paper towels.  I think of the three disposable inventions that my favorite would be toilet paper.  I can go without the other two but I don't want to go back to what ever was used before that.

     That being said, I do think we use too many disposable items in our home.  Paper plates, tissues, paper towels.

     One day I decided to cut up some of Jeff's old t-shirts that he didn't want any more.  I cut them into nice squares.  About 12 to 14 inches.  I folded them up and put them in a nice basket on my bathroom counter.  I began to use them instead of toss away tissues.  Wow, these are so much softer on my nose.  I began to put a small stack by my computer and by my recliner I make sure to have one there too.  I use a square a few times until it seems icky to me then I toss it into the dirty clothes basket and grab a clean one.  No big deal.  Now when I have to use a toss away tissue it seems quite wasteful to me.  I do still keep them on my vanity because I don't think Jeff is ready to switch and also because there are times I don't want to have to clean a cloth tissue.  Like makeup removal, not often but occasionally worn.  Also if something gross is spilt I want to toss the tissue.  I don't need to go into further detail I am sure.

      Anyway, as I was cutting the t-shirts up I ended up with some smaller squares and rectangles.  These I doubled up and then took them to the serger machine.  I serged around the edges and folded them up nicely and put them on a basket on the back of my toilet.  Oh my you say, where is she going with this one.  Ha ha.  Just wait.  I ordered a bidet sprayer from Amazon and Hannah installed it on the water line going in to my toilet.  Its clean water, people.  I began using the sprayer for number one and then patting dry with the serged pieces of t-shirt fabric.  That way I know which goes for which end.  So, now I use a ton less toilet paper.  I still use it for number two of course.  I keep a bucket beside by toilet and toss the fabric there after I use it.  Then just toss into my wash when I do laundry.  Its no different than washing a towel after all.  I have rinsed off and patted dry.  There is no smell and I feel so much cleaner.

    For a couple of years we have been using fabric napkins so I almost forgot to mention them.  I just cut squares of pretty cotton, stitched, turned and top stitched them.  We have a small basket in the kitchen where we toss the dirty dish cloths, napkins and dish towels.  I toss them in when I am washing towels.

     A few weeks ago Hannah suggested we should try to cut down on our paper towel usage.  Yeah.  I am for that.  After all we have several dish towels.  I will continue to keep paper towels on the counter for times when disposable is better but we sure have cut down on using the paper towels. 

      Using less disposable items means less trash and less paper in the sewer.  All good things.  But most important may be the savings.  After all, they all cost money.  A penny saved is a penny earned.

     Here is a list of paper disposable a person can almost eliminate if they choose to do so.

1. paper towels
2. paper plates
3. paper napkins
4. disposable cups and glasses
5. disposable silverware
6. toilet paper (or most of it)
7. tissues
8. sanitary pads
9.  what else can be done away with????

     What kinds of things have you quit using or never started using that help your family save money?

We paid cash

Jeff and I saved for several months for a new to us car. We found this 2006 Ford Fusion with 84,000 miles on Craigslist. We had to drive about 2 1/2 hours to buy it but it was worth it. We are hoping this will last us for several years. It was well taken care of and looks and even smells new. Its so nice to have such a nice car to drive. Now we begin saving for our next new to us vehicle so that when the time comes we will the money to buy one.

Shopping yesterday and today

Wal Mart price match trip.
Before price match about 250.00 after price match $133.86
after coupons $76.11.
Total saved about $157.75 or thereabouts.
Add that to yesterday's shopping........

I just love going into Wal Mart and telling them what things cost. Today I did a little shopping and got $116.71 before price matching,
after price matching $75.31

and then after coupons $33.76
Total savings was $72.95.

Total both days before price matching $366.71
Total after price matching $209.17
total both days after coupons.........$109.87

total savings from both days $256.84

I think I have enough shampoo, conditioner, razors, dish soap, salad dressings, toothbrushes, toothpaste, pain reliever, ramen noodles, peanut butter, jelly, toilet paper, paper towels and such to last several weeks. I am not going to buy any more of these items unless they are free or almost free.

We don't buy air fresheners because of all the chemicals in them. I use essential oils and make my own. I did however buy some febreeze plug in things because I made .53 on each one. I will give those away and I used the money I made to buy some of the other things on my list.

Kombucha and shopping

A facebook friend and I traded some of my milk kefir for a kombucha scooby. The scooby arrived today in the mail. I am excited beause I have not had kombucha for about a year or more. My tea is cooling now and then in a few days I can drink it.

Now for my shopping trip.
At HEB I bought 12 single cups of Dannon yogurt, they ranged in price from $1.00 each to#1.78 each. With coupons they were all free. I also purchased a $100.00 gift card because the HEB's in my area are letting you use the gift cards and get 11 cents a gallon off of gas. That's a good savings. The offer is only good through Dec. 31, 2011. After that its regular price. I always buy a gift card and use it for the gas because HEB usually has the cheapest gas anyway and then I save another 11 cents. Today I got gas for $3.36 a gallon.

Then I went to Wal Mart where I picked a few more grocery items up. My total before coupons was $52.60 and after it was $28.75

So for grocery items I spent $28.75 , saved $48.61, and got $72.46 worth of groceries. That's more than half so I consider it to have done well. My goal is to always save at least half.

Todays shopping trip

Shopping trip August 12, 2011~WalMart
4~Bar S franks
7~50 oz. Purex laundry soap
5~Spenda essentials 80 ct.
8~hanburger helper
14~Keebler cookies
4~Expo markers 2pk.
6~Skippy peanut butter
9~TreSemme stylers
7~Herbal essence shampoo/conditioner
24~Progressive soup
4~Kraft Shredded cheese
9~Lance cracker creations
2~Lance cracker mini sandwich cookies
14~Degree deodorant
4~Huggies wipes refill 176 ct.
12~Activia yogurt selects
5~French’s mustard
7~Ban deodorant
10~Pillsbury brownie mix
1~gallon milk
2~lunch meat
1~large box pop ice
Total price 350.20
Total after price matching 279.00
Total after coupons 126.15
Travis and Rosie at the Victoria Texas Wal-Mart are the BEST

Couponing and price matching

Over the last year or so I have been learning to use coupons to save money for my family. I feel like I have done a good job with that. Now on to the next level.

Price matching. Wal Mart has an ad campaign going about how easy it is to price match at their store. On face book I have a small coupon group and one of the ladies is very knowledgeable about not only couponing but price matching as well.

What you do is this. When you get the Sunday paper save the coupons and sort those and also save a set of the sales ads. Go through the sales ads and using a spread sheet write down prices of items you want to buy and have coupons for, the place they are on sale at, size, etc. Then when you go to WalMart you just tell them the price such and such a store has that item for and they override their price with the other stores sale price. Then you use coupons and save even more.

I went to WalMart the other day and here is what I did.
I got 4 packages of Expo markers. WalMart price was 3.97, HEB had them on sale for 2.00 each so I got 4 packages of Expo markers for 8.00, I then had 2 coupons that were 2.00 on 2 so I ended up paying 4.00 for 4 packages.

You don't even have to bring the sales ad with you, just know, what store, price, size, etc. It was very easy.

How I save $144.00 a year

It has come to my attention that my mental math isn't as good as I had previously thought. lol Thanks Gabe, miss you too.

I am able to save $144.00 a year just by making my own ice cubes. I figured out that we were spending $3.00 or more a week buying bags of ice. I decided to see if my small RV refrigerator freezer unit would freeze ice cube trays. I bought 3 packages of trays, washed them, filled them with filtered water from the sink and put them in the freezer.

I takes two to three days for the trays to freeze but that's just about how long the previous ice cubes lasted. I bought a few more trays until I had a total of 12 trays. I also bought a small dish pan to use as a ice cube bin. The total I spent for trays and bin was less than $10.00. By the way I do not like the ice cube trays I found at WalMart. The best ones I have found were are Dollar General priced at 2 for $1.25.

Now every two or three days I empty all the ice trays into the dish pan and refill them. Since starting this experiment several weeks ago we have only bought ice, once. That's much better than three times a week like we did before the trays.

Years ago, when I was still a girl at home we always used ice trays. Now days everything is about being easy. Stop at the store and pick up a bag of ice. Worse yet, drive to town and buy ice. Cringe. When I think of all the money I could have saved by always using ice cube trays.....oh dear.

It does take time. Maybe 5 minutes to dump and refill the trays. Yeah, I have five minutes to save $1.00. That works out to $60.00 an hour if I did it for a full hour. So you could say I am saving $60.00 an hour by making my own ice cubes. Or better yet, I am not paying someone else $60.00 an hour to make ice for me. That isn't even including the ridiculous price of gasoline.

If you live most places bags of ice are much more than $1.00 as well, we just happen to have a place that you can buy it that cheap. WalMart is even more expensive than that.

Do you make your own ice, have an ice maker or buy ice?

Recycle your cooking grease or oil

Last weekend I bought this beauty at an estate sale for $2.00. I don't cook with much oil so I have been using it instead of my 1 1/2 gallon kettle to boil water for tea. I think we are going to have to go back to more old timey ways of doing things, using less, reusing more and being super frugal. This pot has already come in very handy for me and will continue to give me good service.

Walgreens shopping

Another successful wags run.
$180.00 for $18.00 oop. Cha ching.
4 pkg. diapers 2 size 1 and 2 size 2
4 soft scrub
10 Schick shave cream
2 wal fex allergy medicine...
6 2pk. Irish Spring .25 used for fillers
4 blistex RPM
2 Schick Hydro Razors
4 Natural Instinct Hair color (just a few more box's and I will be set for a year)
2 fruit teething feeders (these just looked so cool, you put frozen fruit in this little mesh bag and the baby can chew, teethe safely and get to eat real fruit safely
I used lots of coupons and some RR and got some RR back. Not a bad haul.

How I organize my coupons

The first thing I do is buy 10 Sunday papers at the Dollar Tree, making sure they all have coupon inserts. Its cheaper to buy the Sunday paper at the Dollar Tree because its only a dollar. Also a tip~~on weeks there is a holiday there will be NO coupon inserts
OK~ After I buy my papers and take the coupons out and try to give the rest of the papers away I bring them home and stack all like inserts together. First by sorting all the Red Plums together, etc. then I sort each like coupon.


See the stack to the right on the TV tray? Those are all pages from the inserts that don't have coupons on them. Get rid of them, that's just wasted weight in your folders.

This is the trash from just one kind of insert, IE Red Plum.

Then I pick up a stack of coupons and line them up and staple them together to make cutting them easier.

This blurry picture shows how I stapled front and back.

OK, now each set of like coupons are stapled together.

You can now file the pages of inserts into a file folder or you can go a step further.

This is how I organize the inserts. As you can see I was just sliding the whole sheets into the folders and this was still somewhat disorganized for me, even though I labeled the folder with the date I bought the papers. This is important because when I read the blogs about what sales are at which stores and coupon match ups they always say use the $2.00 Q from the RP from 6-5-11 and I need to know where my coupons from 6-5-11 are.

I decided to go one step further and staple and cut like coupons and save even more space and get rid of more paper. Now when I want a coupon from the RP insert from6-5-11 I can pull out all 10 of my coupons for that product because they are stapled together. If there is a whole row of toothbrush coupons for example I may just leave the row together but cut it from the rest of the page.

After the coupons are sorted, stapled and cut, I then file them in the folder marked for that week.

This is my shopping coupon folder, the one I take to the store with me. Its about 5X7 inches or so.

It is a smaller accordion type file.
I got that huge blister from weeding the garden with no gloves.

I always carry a copy of the stores coupon policies. Don't ever think that even the managers know their own store policies. Most do not. If you have your copy with you, you can show it to the checker who may still call over a manager but I have never had one argue with me after I showed them their own store coupon policy.

I also make a list on the computer of what I will be buying and any coupons I will be using. I have different stores on one list.

I then paper clip the coupons I will be using at each store. I have a paper clipped bunch for each store I will be shopping at. I then use a sticky note on the front of each bunch of coupons so I know which ones to grab out of my small file folder and hand to the cashier.

I love finding sales and matching up coupons. I love being a good steward of the money my husband works so hard for. I also love being able to give good things to those in need. Before I started using coupons it was hard for me to give quality products to those who needed them because I always had generic in my home. Now we have the opportunity to use more name brand items but spend less than we did when I only bought the cheapest, generic or otherwise.

I will try to post more about using your coupons as the days go by or if you have questions, please leave them in the comments so I can answer them as I am able.

Savings at the stores

Last week I decided I needed to get back into shopping at Walgreens and learn some new stores since I now have more variety of stores to shop. I got some sunday papers and began searching the ads and putting together coupon match ups and reading blogs about coupon match ups.
I gathered all my coupons, circulars and such and headed to wags (Walgreens). This is the end result.
saved $205.47
spent $124.44
RR $113.00
So after RR my total spent was $11.44

Then I went to HEB and bought some groceries and got $78.00 worth of groceries for $29.00

As you can see I had lots of RR from wags. I have a few things I want to use them for next week but I also need some solar lights for a project I am doing. So I went to wags last evening because Jeff and Hannah needed to pick up their new glasses in that town and I bought 24 solar lights at $1.99 each a sympathy card for $1.99 and a set of wire strainers for the kitchen for $3.99. Total was $53.59 with tax and I used $52.99 RR and paid .60 cash oop.
I am not sure why but it said my tax was .05. They tax things very different here in Texas so I dont know what all was taxed or if it taxed my after RR total or what.

Jeff has to go back today after work so I am going to try my hand at a small transaction at CVS. That is one store I was never able to learn because there were none close to me before now.

Fill your pantry-an insurance policy

I am a believer in keeping my pantry as filled as I can afford. It really is an insurance policy. If you can learn to buy in bulk when things are on sale you can be able to buy only sale items.

For example: Last year we bought and canned chicken breast when it was at the lowest price we had seen it, in this case it was 1.79lb. I canned enough to last at least until the next sale. In our case the best price came a whole year later. This time I was able to purchase boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 1.48 a pound. Of course I canned at least another years worth.

I buy flour in 25 or 50 lb. sacks and store in icing buckets I get for free at bakeries. I make bread often enough that I don't worry about bugs because I go thru it fast. Flour seems to go on sale about every 3 to 4 months. At least the price I call a good one. This time I purchased 25lbs for 4.99. This is about the best price I can find.

For my whole wheat flour, I bought a few bushels from a neighbor who grows organic wheat for Bob's red mill. I paid what they got from Bob's. It was much cheaper than buying from the store of course. I then froze and refroze the wheat. It now sits in the basement in 5 gallon buckets. I usually grind 5 to 10 lbs. at a time and store in the extra fridge we have in our garage.

My favorite price is free or close to free so I use coupons.

A couple of days ago I went to United in Guymon for some salad. We like spinach in our salad so I picked up 2 packages of Dole spinach and one package of Cesar salad mix. I noticed they had a recipe booklet in a little rack, I looked at it and sure enough there was a 1.00 coupon in it. United doubles coupons up to 1.00 so that meant I could get 2.00 off per bag. United will only double one like coupon per transaction so I just made 3 separate transactions. I saved 6.00 and paid 2.00 total including tax for 3 bags of salad. Not quite free but pretty good.

I realized I sure could have saved even the 2.00 if I were to grow my own salad mixes. That is why on my side bar I have it listed to plant that. After my initial cost of potting soil and seeds, all of my salad will be free. My favorite price.

This year we all need to plant as much of our food as we can. It may mean a couple of tomato plants, some lettuce and a pepper or two but anything you can grow is more than you had before.

In times past nearly everyone had a garden and I think we need to get back to that. Food doesn't magically appear in the grocers.

Anyway back to my original post.

I buy only things my family likes and we will use. If we never eat sardines even free sardines are not a bargain. Unless you have a friend who loves sardines. Why be a waster?

Another good thing to keep on hand are several kinds of dry beans and rice. Both store well and are good dishes for yummy meals.

I tried canning dry beans but the process was so long, soak, cook and then can it was more time then I wanted to spend. What I do now is soak, cook package into meal sized freezer bags and freeze. When I canned the beans we ate them so fast it wasn't worth the time and bother. So I just cook about 3 to 4 meals worth and freeze. I try to have navy, black and pinto beans frozen for a variety of dishes.

On my birthday a couple of years ago I received a very nice rice cooker. At the time it seemed silly. I started using it and now I love it. Don't buy the cheapo kind get a good one. I have used my rice cooker on mission trips to cook many things. I even took it to a craft day recently filled with canned stew items and it was a hit. I used canned beef, potatoes, carrots and then added beef stock and some barley. We gobbled it up.

Do you have pantry stocking ideas to share?

Shopping at United-Guymon

Yesterday when we went to Guymon I did some shopping at United. They have been having double coupons up to 1.00 on weekends.
6-6packs of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice @ 1.99 each
10-Campbells Cream of mushroom soup @ 1.00 each
8-boxes of Jell-o @ .65 each
4-boxes of Wheat Thins @ 3.35 each
4-pkgs. Trident Layers Gum @ 1.49 each
4-boxes Lipton tea 24ct. @ 1.99 each
2-bags Sunkist tuna @ 1.39 each
4-boxes Betty Crocker brownie mix @ 1.39 each
total before coupons $62.80
I spent $18.56
I also got a free holiday jello mold for buying 6 boxes of jell-o

Stocking up

My plan for Walgreen's this week is to stock up on paper towels, toilet paper and Kleenex.
I will buy many St. Ives body wash for 2.99 each. For each one I buy I will receive a 3.00 register reward.I will buy each one in a separate transaction. I just say I have five transactions or whatever and they ring them up one at a time. I will use these RR to buy the paper towels, toilet paper and Kleenex. The Scott tp is on sale 2 4pks for 5.00 this week, this is the only kind I use because its safe for the rv and the septic system at home. I love using the same money twice.
I like stocking up while things are on sale and never paying full price.
If you can buy enough to last until the next sale that is good.
On average, most things go on sale approx. every three months. So for a minimum, get three months worth of whatever you are buying.
If I were to get one years worth of toilet paper for the rv I would buy about 52 rolls or 14 4pks. That is assuming we use one roll a week. If your usage is more than that you would have to up the numbers and recalculate and stock up according to the new numbers.

My Walgreens shopping

Here are the results of my wags shopping trip.
12 cans peaches
10 tubes Rembrandt Toothpaste
8 bottles Listerine
2 Boxes Ecotrin
4 Boxes Baby aspirin (marked down to .45 each)
9 Nivea body wash
1 package Emery boards
20 Got2b hair products
2 beef jerky (the girls ate them)
9 candy bars (the kids ate some of them)

333.00 worth of products purchased
68.00 spent out of pocket
25.00 register rewards earned
So basically I got 333.00 worth of stuff for 43.oo Not too shabby.

My Walgreens shopping list and plan

Christina asked me to write down my list and how I will be using coupons and such.
In the circular this week:

I have about 26.00 worth of RR from last week I will use to make deals to get more RR this week.

Apparently Walgreen's is not going to be having the Easy Saver catalog any more after May. So no more Mail in rebates with 10% extra. They say they will be having more RR to take the place. I am hoping they do a variety because we can only use so much toothpaste. LOL. I do love spending the same money twice, which is what you do when you get RR.

pg. 3 there is a 7 day coupon for Geisha fruit for 89 cents each. I will buy as many as I can. I will make however many transactions it takes.

pg. 10 Got 2b hair products are 2 for 10.00 with a 5.00 register reward earned for each two you buy.
Go to money saving moms on my right sidebar and print out coupons for 2.00 off each.
This will make them 2 for 6.00 and then you get the 5.00 RR making them .50 each. I will make however many transactions to buy two at a time. I printed off 20 coupons This may sound like a lot but I like to stock up to have enough until the next sale. Plus when the older kids come or such I can give some to them. Also with Mr. Olson living in another town we have to have twice as much stuff. That kind of stuff anyway.

pg. ? Nivea body wash is 0n sale for 4.99 and you earn a 5.00 RR =free

Rembrandt toothpaste is 5.99 and you earn a 6.00 RR =free

Bayer quick release aspirin is 2.49 and you earn a 2.50 RR = free

Listerine is 2 for 8.00 and you earn a 4.00 RR making them 2.00 each

Suave is 3 for 5.00 with a 2.00 RR making them 1.00 each, this is not a particularly good deal unless you have some manufacturer coupons you can use which I have to make it worth more.

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

I had another great shopping trip to Walgreen's today.
I got:
8 chap stick (shimmer)
10 Kleenex (200 ct.)
1 Bounty Basic
1 Walgreen Soy Menopausal formulas pills
7 green Walgreen shopping bags
2 1 liter Listerine
1 1 Liter Walgreen's mouthwash (to try out)
1 One a day women's drink (free after mail in rebate)
1 Watatin allergy pills 30 ct. 6.99 (free after mail in rebate)

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

I had earned quite a bit last month on my gift card so I was able to pay for all of this with 36.52 taken off my gift card. No out of pocket. I will get 8.48 on next months gift card and I saved 57.94

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

I made 8 separate transactions to buy the chap stick. I got a 2.00 register reward for each one. I then made 10 more transactions buying the rest of my stuff one or two items at a time so I could pay for them with the register rewards I had just gotten. I ended up making 18 transactions.

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

When I come to check out I tell them if it is going to be an easy one or a longer one. If I say its a longer one they call up another checker to take care of others who want to check out so they don't have to wait in line behind me. I am happy they do this because it cut down on my anxiety level tremendously. Otherwise I worry about being slow and such. I think they do the same for all of us couponers.

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

spent 0 oop
36.52 gift card
8.48 for next month gift card
saved 57.94

Liberal Walgreen's is the best.

Has the economy changed the way you live?

I keep hearing about the layoffs, job cuts and money woes. I was wondering what others are doing to help their families through these tough times?

Last year Mr. Olson and I took the Dave Ramsey course and have managed to pay off a few of our debts, not as many as we want, but we are on the way.

I so wish we had worked our finances this way from day one and we would not be in any pinch.

I wish young people would take this course and follow it and then they could live with out debt worry.

Some of the things we are doing are:

1. planning menus and not eating out as much
2. using coupons and watching sales
3. stocking up when things go on sale that we regularly use
4. Thinking about a purchase before we buy it.
5. Staying home more.
6. Our TV went out a few months ago and we have not replaced it.
7. Making more food from scratch.
8. I am trying to say no when the girls ask for things.

Some things I'd like to do are:
1. Hang out clothes to dry.
2. Not use the air conditioner this summer, just use fans
3. Begin making our bread again, (I got out of the habit)
4. Quit going to the grocery store. Except for fresh produce.
5. Have a garden again, but with hoping to move it isn't practical here.