purposelyfrugal

Play Dough Toys from Around the House

Apr 082013

Homemade play dough

No need to spend the $15 or more that a lot of play dough kits go for. Even though all those toys for play dough are great fun, you probably have a lot of things around the house that work just as good!

I love how a simple garlic press does the same thing as those play dough toys from the store.

Garlic press
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters or an upside-down cup for a circle shape.
Very dull butter knife or plastic knife (for older kids)
Pastry blender
Anything with a cool design

Doesn't this candle jar lid make a cool design?

BONUS IDEAS:

You can also hid a small toy inside the play dough, so the kids have to find it.
Or how about mixing dry beans or rice into it for a fun texture to feel?
Or even use play dough or clay to make ornaments with and let them dry?
Make some your own play dough for only 27 cents!

Thanks to my facebook readers who gave me ideas!

Food Waste Friday & Milk Tip

Food Waste 2 Responses »

Apr 052013

I have to get this food waste under control. I want to get a handle on it simply because it’s wasteful of our grocery money and not being a good steward, but now I have an extra motivation. Since we’re wanting to go into foreign missions, we’ll more than likely be in a third world country, where we’ll be the rich people. I can’t be tossing old food out when their’s literally people around me starving.

So…I’m going to be linking up at Food Waste Friday again, at least for a while, and each Friday I’ll also share a tip on how to NOT waste food.

At the beginning of this week, I cleaned out my fridge and pantry to begin this waste-less-food journey (wanted to start on a clean slate), and I threw out about 2 grocery bags of food….yes, I’m embarrassed to say the least.

Bake old dairy into muffins.

Waste-Not-Want-Not Tip: When your milk (or yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk) starts to get a little sour smelling (but still okay to drink), bake it into something. I made 2 batches of muffins this week with old milk, although I still have a lot more milk to use! Hopefully I won’t be blogging about it being wasted next week!

Saving Electricity on the Fridge

Electricity 2 Responses »

Apr 042013

Keep the Door Closed at Much as Possible

This is great in theory, but harder to actually do, so here’s some tips that might help:

Keep a list of what’s in the fridge (and maybe even which shelf) taped to the outside of the door.
Keep like-foods in the same spot. This might simply mean, produce goes in the bottom compartments and leftovers on the second shelf, or you could put all sandwich makings (especially if you pack sandwich lunches everyday) in one big box, so you can take the whole box out when needed.
Keep your food in see-through containers whenever possible, so it’s quick and easy to see what’s in it.
Teach your kids to get in and out of the fridge fast or else ask permission before perusing it for a snack.
Get everything you need out at once. Making a salad? Get all the veggies you’ll need to prep for it out at once and put all leftovers back at once.

Keep it Clean

Make sure to clean:

The coils on the outside of the back of the fridge. The less dust and dirt on them the more efficiently they run.
Keep the door seals clean so they seal properly.

Where Should the Fridge Go?

Somewhere where the coils in the back can let their heat escape well.
If possible keep it away for heat sources, like the oven.

It wasn't possible when we lived in the travel trailer, but if you can, keep the oven away from the fridge.

Freezer

Turn the ice-maker off. According to Mr. Electricity an ice-maker can double the freezer’s usage!
If your freezer isn’t frost-free, defrost it often!
Just like the refrigerator section, try to keep the door closed as much as possible.

What Goes Inside Makes a Difference

Let hot foods cool down before putting them in the fridge, it’ll keep the fridge from having to work as hard to cool it down.
Think ahead before thawing your foods. If you plan it early enough you can take that frozen food and thaw it in the fridge. It’ll take a little longer, but it’ll help keep the fridge cool and this is considered safer for foods anyways.
Keeping the fridge fuller can help it as well. Don’t need more food in your fridge? Fill some jugs with water to fill up the empty space.
Keep covers on food. If something is uncovered it takes the moisture from it and creates humidity.
Dry produce off if you’ve washed it. For the same reason as above.
If you can, put foods back in fridge before coming to room temperature. For example, after pulling out a jug of water to fill your cup with, go ahead and put it back in the fridge right away instead of letting it come to room temperature and then putting it back.

Organizing things in containers can help you not have the door open so long.

Misc:

Thinking about buying a newer more efficient fridge to save on electric costs? Go to this article by Mr. Electricity to see his advice on when it is or isn’t worth it. He even has a Refrigerator Savings Calculator to easily figure out how long it’ll take you to get pay back.
If you are buying a new (or at least new to you) fridge, buy as small of one as you can get away with. No need to buy a big one if you’re not going to use all of the space in it.
Don’t keep it cooler than it needs to be! 37 degrees F is cold enough. Besides it’s really annoying when you get your lettuce out of the fridge and it’s partially frozen! If you’re vegan like Mr. Electricity, then you can keep it even cooler (he keeps his at 56) because you won’t be storing meats or dairy, just produce.
Do the famous dollar bill test! If a dollar bill can be closed in the door of the fridge and give a little tug when you pull on it, the seal is good. If it’s really lose you might want to do something about your seal.

Use a dollar bill to test the seal on your fridge.

*Most of the information I got either from Mr. Electricity or our Missionary Technology Class here at the Missionary Training Center.

This post is linked at Frugally Sustainable.

Comment About Comments and a Blog Post

Missions 2 Responses »

Apr 022013

First of all, I wanted to let you all know that for some reason, I haven’t been able to post comments on my blog recently. Just want you to know that I do see your comments and I read them, but until I get this fixed I can’t respond.

And in other news, I have a new post up at our ministry blog called, “I thought I was doing it all right, until I realized I was doing it all wrong…”

Cameron giving me a shot for Field Health class.

Hobo Stew – The Best Camping Meal Ever!

Camping, Main Dishes, Recipes 1 Response »

Mar 312013

Hobo stew…in my mind it’s the perfect meal for camping out…

Everyone can personalize their meal before the trip.
It’s a whole meal in one ball of aluminum foil, so their’s less to carry in.
You don’t need a bunch of equipment or fancy dishes to make it.
It’s yummy!
And it’s very cheap!

First gather any and all veggies that you think will taste good in hobo stew (we had onion, garlic, cabbage, carrots, celery and potatoes).

Chop the veggies up, the smaller the pieces the quicker they’ll cook.

Grab some hamburger meat and mix it up with Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, salt, pepper, garlic powder, or whatever sounds good.

Let everyone creat their own ball of food by putting a ball of hamburger meat and various veggies on some aluminum foil, then add extra seasonings, hot sauce or Worcestershire sauce. Wrap the food up in individual balls (I did 2 layers of aluminum foil). You can put the person’s initials on their’s with a sharpie, but once it’s in the fire, you might not be able to tell what letter it is, so when you put them in make sure to take note of who’s is whos.

Cook them in the coals of your camp fire. How long it takes will just depend on how big they are and how hot your coals are.

Once finished you can just open the aluminum foil and eat right out of it like a bowl!

Ingredients
Hamburger meat
Various veggies
Worcestershire sauce
Seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, celery salt, etc…)

This post is linked at A Blossoming Life, The Peaceful Mom, Frugally Sustainable, and Tammy’s Recipes.

Eating Healthy On a Budget Wrap up

Eating Healthy On a Budget, Series 6 Responses »

Mar 282013

Cook from scratch.

Eat in season food.

Shop sales.

Visit different types of stores (warehouse stores, dollar stores, damaged goods stores, etc...).

Check clearance shelves.

Buy your groceries with cash or the envelope system.

Make a menu plan and grocery list.

Price match.

Use coupons.

Eat out less.

Make a price-book to keep track of the lowest prices.

Buy in bulk.

Eat leftovers.

Grow, hunt, fish or raise your own food.

Learn how to best store produce so it lasts longer.

Eat the right portions.

Limit food and drinks with empty calories.

Check unit prices to see what's really cheapest.

Buy generic brands.

When possible cook with scraps (ie: using veggie peels and scraps to make broth).

Drink water instead of more expensive beverages.

Fill up on cheaper foods and use more expensive foods sparingly.

Shop your own fridge, freezer and pantry before going to the store.

Go local (farmers markets, roadside stands, bountiful baskets, etc...).

Keep track of your grocery budget.

Eat more meatless meals.

If you missed the previous posts here they are!

Eating Healthy on a Budget #1: Produce

Eating Healthy on a Budget #2: Protein

Eating Healthy on a Budget #3: Breads & Grains

Eating Healthy on a Budget #4: Dairy

This post is linked at Frugally Sustainable and A Blossoming Life.

Frugal Fashion

Goodwill 2 Responses »

Mar 242013

I don’t know about you, but I love seeing cheap outfits other people wear, so I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite frugal outfits that I wear a lot.

Outfit #1

Shirt: Under $4 at a consignment store.

Jacket: $3 clearance rack at Wal-Mart.

Jeans: $0 from the mission barrel* and they’re my favorite pair of jeans!

Necklace: $4.50 from Goodwill.

Crazy-socks: Gift from my mom.

Sneakers: $70? I can’t remember the exact price, but it’s the most I’ve ever spent on shoes for myself. They’re good quality, so hopefully they’ll last longer than my cheaper sneakers did.

Outfit #2

Shirt: $7 clearance rack at Wal-Mart

Skirt: $12? I can’t remember the exact price, but I remember it was on sale at Old Navy and then I used a $10 gift card I earned from swag bucks.

Leggings: Don’t remember the price. I probably got them at Wal-Mart or Target.

Earrings: Gift from my mother-in-law and they match this shirt perfectly! (Sorry you can’t see them in the picture).

Shoes: $? I don’t remember how much I spent on them, but I did spiff them up with a sharpie right before this picture!

Gracia’s Outfit

Red dress: Christmas gift.

White stockings: $? probably from Wal-Mart.

Black shoes: $0 from the mission barrel*.

* The mission barrel is a place here on campus for us students and staff to exchange things.

Talk about a fashion statement!

This post is linked at The Peaceful Mom and A Blossoming Life.

Eating Healthy On a Budget #4: Dairy

Eating Healthy On a Budget, Series 3 Responses »

Mar 192013

Dairy is a scary thing to talk about when it comes to our budget, mostly in the cheese department….we love cheese and we eat a lot of it! Dairy has so many healthy benefits, so how can you include it in your grocery budget without overspending?

Shop Sales

Keep your eyes on the look out for sales. I’ve heard of people freezing sale milk for future use. Just make sure to pour a little out, so there’s enough room in the jug for expansion. Cheeses can also be frozen, especially if you’re just planning on using them in cooking.

Buy in Bulk

When we lived closer to a Sam’s Club we bought our cheese there. We figured out the unit price for the a big block of sharp cheddar cheese there and compared it to a regular store and since we eat cheese so much we did the math and realized that in cheese alone we saved enough money to cover the cost of our $40 a year membership! I also noticed that a gallon of milk was usually cheaper at Sam’s than the other stores in the area.

Even if you don’t want to buy huge quantities cheese, just buying a gallon of milk will probably be cheaper per fluid ounce than a half-gallon, but of course if you don’t drink it fast enough and it gets wasted that’s no savings at all. Buy the larger containers of yogurt and divide it out yourself instead of buying the individual serving cups.

Buy Cheese in Block Form

Not always, but often, cheese is cheaper if bought in block form. Simply shred, slice, grate or cube your own cheese. When I used to make sack lunches for Cameron, often I would cut some cheese into sticks instead of buying cheese sticks.

As a side note, if you decide to slice your own cheese, I recommend a cheese slicer like this:

There are also cheese slicers that use a string to slice, but we haven’t had as good of success with them.

Go Generic!

Like most things, the generic brand will be cheaper. At least try the cheaper brand and if you really don’t like it you can always go back to the name brands, but honestly I can’t usually tell a difference! If you do decided to stick with name brand keep the next tip in mind…

Look for Coupons

I rarely use coupons, but I know enough to know that you can sometimes find coupons for things like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc… Coupons are especially good if you like name brand items. You might be able to find some organic coupons too.

Look for Local Sources

We’ve started buying raw milk from some local farmers for only $4 a gallon. Lately milk at Wal-Mart has been over $4 a gallon, so this is a good price. Although we’re probably not saving much, because about once every other month we take a turn to go drive 30 miles away and pick it up for us and friends. We’re mostly doing it for the health benefits of raw milk, but if you live close to a local farm with dairy products it might save you some money. The laws about buying raw milk vary from State to State.

Buy Cheaper Varieties

I absolutely love spinach feta mushroom crustless quiche, but feta cheese is a little pricey, so I often make this recipe using cheddar in place of the feta cheese. You can try your own experiments at substituting more expensive dairy products for the cheaper kind.

Use Less

While dairy products are good for you, you might still be able to get a balanced diet with just a little less dairy. We’ve tried to cut back our cheese consumption a little bit and it hasn’t hurt us at all! We eat nachos very rarely now and I try to be more cautious when sprinkling cheese on pizza. Another option is to limit the amount of milk your kids drink, while milk is great for them, they also need to be drinking plenty of water.

Bake with Old Dairy

You know when that sour cream smells just a little too sour? You’re not sure it’s really bad enough to toss, but you’re leery of putting a dollop on your taco salad? Try baking with it! After all it’ll get cooked that way. Milk, buttermilk, yogurt and sour cream can all be used up this way! Think muffins, pancakes, biscuits, waffles, cornbread etc… Try my mom’s moist banana bread for a great way to use up a cup of yogurt or sour cream!

Make muffins to use up sour cream or yogurt.

Make Your Own

I’ve made yogurt once, and Cameron has made butter using cream from our raw milk. I don’t know price break downs for these kinds of things, but I imagine most things you make yourself will save some money. I’ve seen blogs featuring not only butter and yogurt, but also different kinds of cheeses, greek yogurt and buttermilk.

What kinds of dairy products have you made yourself?

Miss the previous posts?
Eating Healthy on a Budget #1: Produce
Eating Healthy on a Budget #2: Protien
Eating Healthy on a Budget #3: Breads & Grains

This post is linked at A Blossoming Life.

Beans are Good for More than Just Eating!

Kid Crafts 3 Responses »

Mar 142013

On calmer evenings we like to do a little bit of “homeschooling” with Gracia. She absolutely loves it and is highly disappointed when we don’t do it with her. I hope she always keeps her love of learning!

One night for her homeschooling I grabbed my big glass jar of pinto beans. We used the dry beans for doing some math problems. Dry beans are perfect for math and then you can even put them back in the jar and cook them up to eat later! If you think that sounds unsanitary, remember those beans will be brought to a boil and simmered for a couple of hours, so I’m pretty sure the germs will be killed. Using beans is especially good for kids that are hands on or visual learners.

While beans are great for addition and subtraction, they can also be used for art! Simply put glue on some paper and then decorate to your heart’s content! To add variety use various beans, lentils, popcorn kernels or rice.

See Gracia’s creation?

Even though Gracia is only 4 this is a great craft for older kids too, you can go see the creations The Frugal Girl’s kids made.

This post is linked at The Frugal Girls and The Peaceful Mom.

Eating Healthy On a Budget #3: Breads & Grains

Eating Healthy On a Budget, Series 2 Responses »

Mar 132013

Grains are important in any frugal diet! They help stretch those other more expensive grocery items and add plenty of nutrients and fiber!

Go Whole Wheat

We all know that whole wheat is healthier than white, so most of the time opt for whole wheat breads, pastas and rice. Often the whole wheat varieties are the same price as the white, but even when they’re a little more expensive, I think it’s still worth the few extra cents.

Cook from Scratch

I do occasionally make whole wheat bread, but am by no means an expert! However, I do recommend an excellent post by The Frugal Girl called, “Does Homemade Bread Save Money?” She does an excellent price-break down and even compares the nutritional value of the ingredients.

Even if you don’t want to make your own sandwich bread, there’s plenty of other nutritious”breads” out there you can whip up, like corn tortillas which only consist of masa harina, salt and water. Or how about muffins from scratch? You can healthify them, but substituting some of the white flour for whole wheat, including fruits, cutting back on the sugar and using applesauce in place of the oil. Instead of buying cereal you can make your own granola. You could try this recipe that only uses honey to sweeten it or this clumpy recipe.

Gracia a couple years ago helping me bake bread.

Buy “Day Old” Bread

I’ve heard of “Day Old” Bread stores, but even if you don’t have that in your area, chances are your local grocery store will have a spot in the store where they sell reduced for quick sale bread. Keep your eyes out, as it often isn’t in the bread section where you’d expect it. Look over by the deli, meat department or freezer section, and if all else fails, ask someone!

Don’t Waste Stale Bread

Croutons, bread pudding, stuffing or bread crumbs are perfect ways to use up old bread. Some might consider this too gross, but I’ve even cut off small moldy parts of bread and eaten the rest of the bread that’s still good.

Brown rice is affordable and very nutritious!

Buy in Bulk

Grains are something you can usually get in bulk. Some people even buy their own wheat and grind it themselves. Buy the bigger bags of rice instead of the Minute variety. Buy oatmeal in a canister instead of the individual oatmeal packets, and you can even make your own instant oatmeal packets.

Stock Up on Great Sales

Honestly I’ve yet to do this, but when you see things like flour go on sale, stock up! If you buy extra bread you can freeze it for later.

Grains are Great Fillers

Because so many grains (rice, oatmeal, etc…) are so cheap compared to things like meats, they’re a great way to fill up your family and stretch a meal. Serve them as a side dish or add a little extra to soups and casseroles.

Black Bean and Rice Burritos

Recipes
Breakfast rice
The Gracious Pantry’s big list of oatmeal ideas
Homemade instant oatmeal packets
Honey Granola
Clumpy Almond Granola
Popcorn without a popcorn popper.
Homemade Corn Tortillas - Corn tortillas are healthier than white and so yummy when freshly made!
Amy Dacyzyn’s Universal Muffins – This is a great “recipe” for making muffins out of whatever you have on hand!
Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Honey Carrot Cake
DIY Bread Crumbs plus 8 ways to use up bread crumbs
Croutons

This post is linked at Tammy’s Recipes.

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