Slow the Spending
Yesterday I read a GREAT post from the Frugal Dad that got me to really thinking about finances. I have always done our finances on the computer and sometimes, things get omitted or I forget to write them down.
After reading his post yesterday on using a ledger, I think I am gonna go back to the “old school” way for a month and see what happens. It has been a very long time since I have written everything down that we spend and I know that by not doing that, we have been spending above our budget on certain things.
For instance:
My husband loves chocolate shakes from Sonic. During the month of June, they have BOGO shakes. We have been three times already this past week and he gets the large ($2.99). That is already $9.00! If we do that all month long, we will have spent right at $30 on ice cream. This is something that I have not written down and it is about $15 over our budget for this area.
So for the next month, I am committing to getting me a ledger and writing down every single dime we spend. I need to get our finances refocused and this seems to be the way to do so.
What about you? What do you use and how do you keep track of it all?
Continue reading Slow the Spending …
From Econobusters.
Two coupon books today
My April 18 home-delivery editions of The Monroe Evening News and Detroit Free Press each have two coupon books.
The Monroe stack includes coupons for Chocolate Cheerios, YoPlus, Huggies, Old Spice body wash and Zyrtec.
Continue reading Two coupon books today …
From Monroe on a Budget.
20 Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats
{Updated for 2010} This week’s Recipe Hit List is a collection of online recipes that have caught my eye–they’re perfect for Valentines treats and many would make great homemade gifts. You’ll find cookies, cupcakes and plenty of chocolately goodness for Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!
20 Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats
*Note: Descriptions below are quotes from the recipe sites
Chocolate [...]
- Also See These Tips:
- 12 Easter Sweet Treats: {Recipes}
- 10 Tempting Sweet Treats: Recipes
- 20 Homemade Valentine Gifts, Projects & Decor Ideas
Continue reading 20 Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats …
From TipNut.com.
16 Tasty Chili Recipes
Nothing better than enjoying a bowl of piping hot chili that’s full of flavor and simmered slowly all day long (especially when it’s chilly outside!). This week’s Recipe Hit List features a variety of homemade chili recipes to try: beef, chicken, turkey, white chili, crockpot, vegetarian or how about a little chocolate twist (see Cincinnati [...]
- Also See These Tips:
- 24 Pressure Cooker Recipes: Tasty Collection
- 17 Tasty Casserole Recipes
- 10 Frugal Leftover Turkey Recipes
Continue reading 16 Tasty Chili Recipes …
From TipNut.com.
Good Cookie Recipes – Just In Time For Christmas
If you are a HBHW regular, you already know that I’ve been busy organizing a Virtual Cookie exchange and it is finally ready. You can check out all the delicious cookie recipes that have been submitted by quite a few of my blogger friends here:
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/virtual-cookie-exchange
Here are just a few of the yummy recipes you will find on that page.
- Chocolate Thumb Print Cookies
- Nut Horns
- Lemon Drop Cookies
- Almond Bars
- Tiny Green Wreaths
- Chocolate Goobers
- Basic Spritz Cookies
and many more… all in all you’ll find links to over 35 cookie recipes there. I asked each person that participated to share her favorite cookie recipe, so you know all of these will be absolutely wonderful.
Continue reading Good Cookie Recipes – Just In Time For Christmas …
From Hillbilly Housewife Blog.
Day 19~Back to the Table
Here are a few more ideas for setting an attractive table this Thanksgiving. My goal is to just show you that by spending almost nothing but a little time and thought you can put together a beautiful and welcoming table that is all YOURS — not someone else’s look that you buy at their price!
Earlier in the week someone sent me a link to a “paper harvest” at The Homeschool Post. I just loved these scrapbook paper pumpkins, and HAD to make try my hand at this simple craft. Here are a few ideas of how to use them.
~Make a kit for each child’s place setting which includes the pre-cut and pre-hole-punched strips, a name tag and the brads needed to assemble their own pumpkin. Be sure to keep the little holes that you punch out–they can be used as colorful confetti to sprinkle on the table if you wish.
~Make individual pumpkins for each place setting to serve as place cards. You can even tuck a little treat inside like a wrapped chocolate or mint.
Don’t go out and spend time and money trying to find just the right combination of scrapbook papers, unless you feel you really want to. I just used what I had on hand–if you look closely the white pumpkin has bulrushes on it–but it works! Some of my other pumpkins were polka dots, but they all look nice together. I will say that I found the full size (12 inch) pumpkin to be a bit floppy without support. Here are quick instructions for making the pumpkins – for more info click on the link to the original post above.
Start with a piece of 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper. For the large pumpkin, cut the paper into 12 strips 1 inch wide. Punch a hole at each end of each strip. Poke a brad (those prongy things that are used to hold papers together) through the holes (right side up) at one end, and open the brad to hold the papers in place. Fan the papers into a circle, and one by one thread them onto the other brad, so the prongs end up inside the circle. Make sense? For the small pumpkins, I cut each sheet of scrapbook paper in half, then cut each half into 12 strips, each 1 inch wide and 6 inches long. Then I put them together the same way. They are a fuller, more closed-in pumpkin this way. I just cut a leaf shape freehand, and tied it to the brad with twine, adding a little stamped name tag. No stamps–no worries–just print names on the computer, or handwrite.
Think of the possibilities! Wrap votive or pillar candles in co-ordinating paper, print out a verse and layer it over top. Make napkin holders by wrapping a toilet paper tube cut in half with scrapbook paper, and again, wrapping a verse around it . . . Lots you can do with this!
Moving on . . . remember my dollar store haul from last week? Here are a few ideas for holding those 50 cent napkins. All were dollar store items, or gleaned from the backyard.
Tied with jute twine, with a leaf and flower scrounged from a thrift store, sad looking fake flower arrangement that I cut apart, and ended up with about 20 flowers and as many leaves.
Here we have a piece of wired ribbon from the dollar store, embellished with a tuft from my dried out pampas grass in the backyard. I was able to get 12 9-inch ties from this $1.00 spool of ribbon.
This one uses the purchased ring (8 for $1.00) and a leaf and berries from a tree in my backyard. The grapes are $1.00 store fakes, but woudn’t real grapes be a tasty treat?
One last photo to illustrate another suggestion: Think white. At yard sales and thrift shops I’m always on the lookout for white serving pieces. They can be decorative, but they’re also very practical, as they can be used for any occasion by just changing inexpensive accessories. Just this week I saw white dishes at Big Lots, Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity ReStore for not much more than you’d pay for good quality paper and plastic goods. If you don’t want to wash mounds of dishes after Thanksgiving dinner, just scrape the plates and soak them in hot soapy water in your laundry tub or plastic storage tubs until later. Just a thought–it’s a money-saver in the long run!
Not one item in this picture cost more than a dollar or two. Really.
Next Friday: Centerpieces, table coverings and runners, and setting a buffet table!
Continue reading Day 19~Back to the Table …
From Econobusters.
Yule Love it: A Frugal Christmas program
This post is for my readers in and near Newport, Mich.
The Yule Love It: A Frugal Christmas Program will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday Nov. 12 at Newport Branch Library, 8120 N. Dixie Hwy., Newport.
Learn to plan a Christmas you can afford. This program will include: family activity suggestions, gift ideas, gifts you can make at home, gourmet gifts from your kitchen, unique packaging ideas, Christmas cards with scrap booker Amanda Maue and chocolate with Pauline Hood from the Flour Garden.
Participants will have the opportunity to taste test, receive recipes and try your hand at making a few items.
Registration is requested at (734) 586-2117 in person at the Newport Branch Library.
Continue reading Yule Love it: A Frugal Christmas program …
From Monroe on a Budget.
What’s in Kim’s “gift box?”
Kim at Frugal Finesse is the frugal blogger and reporter for the South Bend Tribune.
One of her recent posts was Take a peek inside our gift box.
What’s that all about? She’s snagging deals off-season that work for Christmas and birthday gifts!
A snippet:
During the past six months, our gift box has served us well.
When we were invited to an impromptu birthday party for my niece, the item we pulled out of the gift box to give her — a fortune-telling game — couldn’t have been more perfect.
I haven’t done this, but I know my grandmother did. I don’t have a huge need to do this since we usually hand out cash, gift cards, boxes of chocolate or music CDs as gifts. But I know a lot of families could really make this idea work for them.
Kim’s idea of a designated box (or my grandma’s closet shelf) solves the problem of hiding the stuff so well that you forgot what you have on hand!
Continue reading What’s in Kim’s “gift box?” …
From Monroe on a Budget.