Survival Saturday

There a alot of reasons to be prepared for anything. You just never know when bad things are going to happen. Noone wants to go through any of them but they do happen and things are alot easier if you are prepared.
At the very least everyone should have a bail out bag or a 72 hour kit. You should have one for every person in the house including children. I have one for each of us. We had a flood in our area 3 years ago. A really bad flood. Our house did not flood but half the city did. My father in law lost his house. My husband went to get him and they got out just in time. Unfortunatley he had nothing ready for an emergency so he lost everything not one thing was salvageable in the house, Because the flood flooded the refinery and everything was contaminated. It would have been nice if he had just had his important papers some pictures some clothing etc. Luckily he had us to live with but what if we were not there??
There are lots of ways to be prepared. Like I have talked about in a previous post, Stockpiling food and personal and first aid supplies ensure that in a crisis like losing a job or food shortages or rising food costs or worse we are prepared.
In the next few weeks I am going to talk about dehydrating, gardening, canning and other things you should know how to do. Getting back to basics. It is a bit of a fad right now but you can do things long term that will not only be enjoyable but great things you can teach your children. Michelle

FRUGAL FRIDAY

Frugal Friday....

Being frugal seems to come very naturally to some and others not so much. I was the not so much one. It comes easy now but that is after many many many years of training. I took baby steps when I first started. I would try one thing a week for a bit then move up to a couple things. And eventually it came much easier. There were some that stuck and I still do today and there are some that I don't do and prob won't do again. I don't like reusing baggies. I don't use them that much and I hate washing them out and drying them so I don't. I do reuse the baggies that I store chips in because they are never really dirty. Here a few of my favorite frugal things that I actually enjoy doing I get a sort of frugal buzz from!!!

Baby frugalness

1. Using cloth diapers, I don't know why but I feel pride when I use them.
2. Using cloth wet wipes. I don't do the whole premoistend thing, I just have cut up receiving blankets and wet them when needed..no diaper rash here.
3. Making my own baby food and my own baby teething biscuits. This is very very easy. When you have something that is for dinner that would be great for baby just puree it and store it in fridge of freezer. I have already started doing this and freezing for when Jeremiah begins eating.
4. First thing I do when I get some new baby wash I split it up into 2 containers and do a half n half with it. Half wash half water. 1 bottle will usually last 1 year.
5. My newest frugal baby thing is breastfeeding, It makes me ill to think how much I spent on formula with all the other children and how much more I could have given to them. This is my greatest sense of pride.

Hope those help, Have a great weekend frugal friends, Michelle

RECIPE OF THE WEEK THURSDAY

Today is Recipe of the week Thursday, Today's recipe is......

Chicken wraps

My kids loveeeee these and so do I.

Everytime I make chicken for a casserole I put some aside for this lunch or dinner.
I would say it is probably equilevant to 2 chicken breasts.
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese
Ranch dressing (homemade is best but bottle will work)
fajita seasoning or rotisserie chicken seasoning or greek seasoning work well.
Flour tortillas

If you are making this from fresh chicken cut your chicken breasts like you would for fajitas. Add a few tbls of oil to pan and cook chicken in seasoning until done.

If using frozen precooked chicken, Defrost and heat up in oil and seasoning.

Shred lettuce and cheese. Make ranch dressing if needed ( My recipe is posted on my blog).

Add chicken, lettuce, cheese and ranch dressing to tortillas and enjoy!!!! Michelle

Good Buy Wednesday

This is GOOD BUY WEDNESDAY....

I am posting my list for Walgreen's and My town's grocery store deals (Marvins).

This weeks Walgreen's list
First I will purchase the Register Reward items I want or need
Transaction #1
Stouffers easy express skillet meals ( I do not care for these but my daughter does)
2/8 - $2rr
Purchase $10 in these products get $3rr
Tide stain release $3.99
Mr. Clean magic erasers 2/5 I will get 3/7.50( There are more items included but this is what I will purchase)
hefty trash bags 5.99 $1rr
soft soap 2/11 $5rr
lysol healthy touch 11.99 $5 rr
schick disposable razors $5.99 $3rr
always pads $2.99 $2rr
softsoap body wash 2/7 $5rr
Total-$74.50( I will cut this in half with coupons, I did not get around to getting all my coupons matched up yet for this post)
RR total-$26

I will use the $26 in rr's to purchase this for free
Dawn dish soap-$.99-.$50 coupon x4 coupons=4/$2
Coffee mate liquid creamer 2/2.49 - 2 .75 coupons =2/$1
salt and baking soda 2/1 x4= 8/4
mandarin oranges 2/1 3=6/3
arizona 12 pack tea 3/10
6 roll scott natural paper towels $5 - $1q=$4
12 large roll cottonelle toilet paper $5-$1q=$4
total-$28-$26 RR's out of pocket cash $2+tax

Marvins ad

Betty crocker cookie pouches 3/5 -(3).50q's= 3/3.50
Starkist pouches 2/3-(2)$1q's=2/1
Uncle bens rice 3/5-(3).75q's=3/2.75
orville redenbacher popcorn 3/5-(3).40q's=3/3.80
Sanderson farms 100% natural whole fryers .99 x10 lbs=$10
hefty one zip baggies 2.19 bogo free q=2/2.19 x 6=12/7.20
Total-$28.25

Michelle

Tipster Tuesday

A few of my favorite tips.....

1. Once a week put your sponges and the little metal screen sink strainers through the dishwasher. They come out sparkling clean. On this day I usually do the microwave tray and knick knacks from around the house, light covers etc.

2. Before you leave for a day trip or out of town fill a spray bottle with vinegar and spray the whole house. Couches floors curtains etc. You won't have to be there while the vinegar smell dissaptes but when you return your house will be fresh smelling and it kills germs too.

3. Make your own fabric softner. Vinegar in a jug with some essential oil if you like or just plain. You towels come out really fluffy and really clean instead of getting that fabric softner build up.

4. Make your own pledge. Lemon juice and olive oil in a spray bottle. Smells lemony fresh and really polishes up well.

Have a great tip....I love tips!!! Michelle

Manic Monday

Only 2 days in and I already love the structure. I am a structure girl, I crave structure!!!

Well today is Manic Monday. Today is about spring cleaning. I know I have the bug a bit early. But with 7 kids 6 at home ( although seems like the 20 year old still lives here haha) I have to start a bit earlier than some. I have a master list. It has about 100 things on it, from building some raised beds for gardening to washing up the summer clothes for the kids and everything in between. I make my list by room, then break that down into little 10-20 minute jobs I can do while the baby is napping or the kids are busy doing something. I have the bathroom broken down into 10 minute jobs as this is the amount of time I let the kids play during bath time. I can have my whole bathroom spring cleaned in about 3 bathing sessions. Everything else is written out like:
Livingroom- Clean out and organize bookshelf
Shelf #1
Shelf #2
Shelf #3
or

Diningroom- Clean out and organize Hutch
Top of hutch
hutch shelves and glass
Middle of hutch
Bottom cupboards and 2 drawers
Pledge entire hutch

This is the only way I can function to get anything done and it works so well for me. For 1, I get to see progress by crossing off things I have done and I love seeing scratch marks on my to do lists. For 2, I have alot of 5, or 10 minute down times but never have 30 minute or 1 hour down times.
My spring cleaning happens to coincide with my bi-yearly list so most every inch of the house gets done. Cleaning out fridge and freezers ( I clean these out quickie style every month, but 2 times a year everything comes out and drawers are relined etc.).
Couple of tips:
The smell is bad the first day, But if you clean most everything with vinegar or vinegar and essential oil. The next month will just smell so fresh and you know it is disinfected.
To frugal pledge your wood items use squeezed lemons and a little olive oil, I also use this to shine up my very very very old worn out wood floors twice a year.
Keep some boxes up against a wall at all times in atleast one room or as I have one set on each floor for Throw away, sell, donate or storage. This makes it so much easier to get rid of things when boxes are right there. I also have a box on each level for upstairs it is marked goes downstairs and downstairs is marked upstairs.

Hope these help good luck with your spring cleaning!!!!! I love spring!!!! Michelle

Stockpiling Sunday

I wanted to start today with Stockpiling Sunday. I stockpile, I do not hoard. I think you do have to be careful wether you are stockpiling or hoarding. Stockpiling is not about just getting stuff or just having stuff. I would not stockpile nearly as much as I do if I only had say 2 children. But I have 7 and It makes life so much easier and less expensive for me to stockpile OUR needs. I use coupons and sales (loss leader sales alot) to stockpile. I do not stockpile things we don't use or won't use, unless the item is free and I KNOW someone who will use it. I know alot of people that purchase week after week the free after rebate or RR's ( register rewards) from walgreen's, They get alot of diabetes monitors. I do not have diabetes nor does anyone in my family but the man across the street from me does and has limited income. I got him one 2 years ago for free after coupon and rebates.

There are many reasons to stockpile. I stockpile for several reasons. I have a large family and we go through alot of stuff each month. Shampoo, toilet paper, soap, laundry soap, food. I also stockpile because of cost. If I shopped for this large of a family every week without coupons and did not have my stockpile I can only imagine how much more it would cost me. I stockpile so that I do not have to run to the store more often then needed, This causes me to spend more money than I need to since I always have kids in tow and we know how they can run up a quick trip for bread. I also stockpile because I like the feeling of being prepared. If my income stopped or slowed down I at most times have enough food to last 3-6 months. Lately my stockpiling is helping with the rising cost of food. I see prices soaring on some items and I feel it is only going to get worse. So by having my stockpile at home frees me up to only purchase sale, loss leader items and coupon items. This varies my spending from month to month. Plus I can follow sale trends.

There are many pitfalls you can fall into by stockpiling so you need to watch yourself. Don't purchase things that you won't use or someone you know won't use. If you don't need 30 packs of toilet paper and have no where to store it it is not worth it. I have quite a bit of storage in this house and have a large pantry. The bathroom in our house was a bedroom at one point that was probably converted to a bathroom. It has a large walk in closet. We go through alot of toilet paper and I have a place to store it. We don't get sick much because of homeschooling and we do alot of things at home. So stockpiling large amounts of medicines that are free or free after RR's at walgreens although I have storage for room still just takes up space and is not something we use. What you will find in my stockpile are large quantities of cereal, My kids eat alot of oatmeal and cold cereals. Last month was a great month for cereal coupons and sales. I purchased most of my boxes and bags for less than $1. I purchased roughly 20 boxes and 20 bags. I also had the opportunity to get 20 boxes of ritz crackers for $20. I loveeee ritz crackers as does everyone in my family. I hope this helps a little with explaining why we stockpile and how it benefits us. I am getting my camera back today and I am going to take some pictures of my stockpile. Have a great Sunday, Michelle