FRUGAL THIS WEEKEND

Frugal things I did this weekend. I was on a roll this weekend, Frugal here, Frugal there, Frugal everywhere. I started with my twins elefun game, They have lost the little butterflies here and there, So I wandered around the house looking for things to make butterfiles out of.....And I decided on the plastic insert I saved from cereal boxes, I cut them into the shapes of the butterflies, and used permanent markers to color them, And they worked fantastic. The boys were happy to have lots of butterflies again.
I also cooked a ham on friday, We had ham dinner that night, The next night we had ham tetrazini and then Sunday I boiled the bone and dug out the bones and added veggies and some potatoes some seasoning and green beans, and had a great tasty soup.
I was cleaning the laundry room, Which doubles as storage for house working supplies, tools etc. And I found all the paint cans from the painting we had done to fix up the house, So I got those out and did touch up painting all around the house, Looked so good, It got me going and I rearranged some stuff, Now I feel like I have all new stuff.
I also tried a trick that I learned from thrifty fun, I made a bucket of hot water, added tea bags, let steep for several hours, added a couple capfuls of olive oil and cleaned all the hardwood floors downstairs, It was fabulous, gave them a little stain and a shine and looked great for little work.
I cut the little ones (4,4,2) hair and saved a ton of money, I have never taken them to a barber, I started young, When they did not care what it looked like hahaha, And with practice have become quite good at it.
We have a busy busy next couple of weeks, As it is turning colder fast, I have set up some shelves inside by a window and placed lamps all around, I am going to have to bring in my lettuce and carrots and tomatoes that I got planted to late, So I am excited to see if I can get them to grow indoors. We also have list a mile long of winterizing to do, Since we have no heat, Plus are still trying to decide wether or not to purchase a wood stove or one of the new radiant heat, heaters. I really love wood stoves, But it would be take alot installing and getting ready. Since we saw the commercial for home depot lowering the insulation costs in half this winter, We are loading up on friday and insulating as much as possible everywhere we can get into. And removing window air conditioners and recaulking, I also found a bunch of flannel flat sheets at a garage sale, and Am going to sew those on the backs of my sheet curtains to insulate for winter. And I found many old quilts at used stores and am going to hang those up in the bedrooms for drapes. Busy busy busy, I love busy.

Posting good deals

I am going to start posting good deals I find around town here in independence, kansas. I will post them on the day I find them. They will be for local businesses, Coffeyville, independence, cherryvale, some bartlesville, oklahoma. The best find for the last few days, Is for the cherryvale true value hardware store, They sent out an ad last week, The sales last until 10/11. I purchased 6 cans of the foam spray for insulation 2.99ea (lowest price I have ever seen or gotten it) smoke detectors for 4.99ea, We purchased 3, And really nice tool boxes 4.99ea for the twins for christmas. This came to $46, Then we signed up for their rewards card, and will be sent a $5 giftcard for signing up and a $10 card for our purchases, Since we got double points. I have to say also that I had never been to this hardware store, and these were the most helpful nicest employees I have ever come across, I left that store with a big smile on my face.

Also wanted to note that we had the baby's 2nd birthday party yesterday, Sniffle Sniffle, So hard to see the last one move out of babyhood, But also exciting. Anyway he is consumed, addicted, obsessed with to the point of therapy hahaha, with Disney cars. I got almost all of his birthday gifts free from walgreens with register rewards, But one thing I spent the big bucks on was the table cover, pack of stickers, plates, cups, napkins and banner. $2 each which I would not normally do but..... I reused all leftovers and was less guilty about buying these items. I took the tablecloth and cleaned it and cut off the edges that had huge cars characters on it, Hubby took these strips and tacked these up as a border in his room, Looks really nice, and the baby loved it. I also saved all the leftover napkins cups and plates, and the boxes from his toys, I spent last night cutting out the characters, I have some clear contact paper, and will today cover them with that, and then I am going to decorate his walls with these.

Stockpiling

Stockpiling food and non food supplies are an enjoyment for me, A security blanket, an insurance policy of sorts. Take for instance, I need some serious dental work next month, To the tune of $1000, Well I was taking stock today after the superrrr wags trip today. I can stop buying groceries except for $50 a week ( usually all household and foods runs about $150, and household includes clothing, prescriptions etc.) So I can pay cash for my dental work, use only about 30 % of my stockpile for two months. This is a great feeling, If I did not have the stockpile, We would have to do shopping and pay for the dental work. And we would end up in the red big time. I also did something I have not done before, I purchased 15 christmas gifts, Started at $99 and ended at $5.81 after register rewards. This will be my first year at getting a headstart at christmas, I have to admit It feels kinda good getting a head start. And I normally start budgeting in next month for christmas shopping, So this is something I won't have to do next month also, Since having a head start on it.

The proven rewards of making your own laundry soap

Making my own laundry soap, Proved to be a wise choice. I have made my own laundry soap for about a year now. I love making it, I love how it smells and how it works. But with coupon I got a bottle of detergent for almost nothing. So I decided to use it on the winter clothes I got ready to incorporate into drawers and closets for upcoming cold weather. Boy do I ever regret this idea. We have had a chilly spell here in kansas. And the kids have been dipping into those clothes I washed up. And for a week now they have had horrible rashes. I took them to the doctor and first thing he said was did you change laundry soap. Darn it. With eating healthier and not hardly eating out at all, Going more natural in the house with all things, including washing clothes. I should have known this would not go over big. So I am up tonight rewashing all the clothes and doing an extra rinse to get all the bought soap out. I noticed that we went out to eat, (fast food) once last week. And everyone has complained of upset stomach, after. Moral of the story, Just because you can, or can do it cheaply, Does not mean you should.
My laundry soap recipe is from the duggars website. I have tried others but like this one best.

Christmas procrastinator

I was thinking about christmas this morning, I don't know why, this is way early for me. I don't plan it out. I never have. First of all, I hate the presents thing, I do however love the baking and I love the decorating and spending time together. Christmases when I was a child, ( My parents were very very wealthy) Were not great, We got a ton of presents, to be honest my brother and I would get tired of opening them. And holidays never ended well. My dad would end up drunk, Not different from most days. Then we would all scatter. I received outfits that were more then my families entire yearly budget for clothes. But christmas never meant anything. It just was not good. So when I had kids, alot like my entire way of life. I chose to do it completely different. We don't focus on lots of gifts, Most I find at used stores or make. I have not ever heard my kids complain, Except one year when my 13 then 7 year old wanted a horse !!!! Kids ha. So I'm thinking about christmas, We need some more ornaments so I will be searching for new ones to make. And I started stockpiling the scents I will use to make the house smell yummy, When I'm not cooking or baking of course! I always make the kids a blanket of some sort. I also have tons of wood pieces left from working on the house, So I will be making the baby who loves and needs therapy for his obcession with disney Cars, I will have hubby cut them and I will paint them and decorate them with cars detail. I want to add something to our holiday this year, We never had any "traditions" growing up. We do have some traditions now, Snacks and a movie on christmas eve. We don't celebrate Santa Claus, We of course do crafts, I think I might add cookie making for the twins this year, Any other suggestions that include us all as a family would be greatly appreciated. I would love suggestions on this. Thanks in advance.

Part two of make a months worth of recipes

I also make frito wraps when I do the breakfast burritos, It is very little prep and easy to do. My kids love these things from sonic, They are really tiny at sonic and cost $1. So 90 of them would cost me $90, ouch. So I start with 90 burrito shells, If I make these I make them a bit bigger then burrito shells, Need more space to crunch down fritos. I use sliced american cheese, We call it sticky cheese, The kind in cellophane wrappers, So 45 slices as I only use half slice for each burrito. Then I get 3 bags of frito like chips at aldi, These are I believe 1.19 each. And finally I use 2 cans of beanless chili, (uggghhh my son won't eat the beans) and then I use some left over chili for ours from a meal we had or homemade chili. Make my assembly line, Shells, then chili, then fritos, then cheese, fold and scrunch down, wrap in foil or waxed paper and done. I don't know the cost for these, But it is unbelieveable compared to bought ones. And the kids love em. I often send these to the park with the kids and my hubby, when he takes them. I heat them up, wrap in foil, and they are still warm when they eat them. Easy for the kids to walk around and eat, But bring wipes with for chili drips!!!!

One of my make a months worth recipes

It is almost time again for me to make a few of my months worth of recipes. I have several, This weekend I will be making my breakfast burritos and frito wraps. I make 90 of each at a time. That usually lasts the entire month or more. I am not really a recipe follower, I create things and I just remember them. So I will do the best I can with measurements.
Breakfast burritos- this started out as breakfast pizza and graduated to burritos
90 flour shells-Unless I get these cheap I make my own. There are tons of very very simple recipes to make flour tortillas online. I believe I got mine from hillbillyhousewife.com.
I shred 3 blocks of different cheeses- I get all my cheese at aldi for 1.40 a block. I have to drive 50 miles to the nearest aldi, So I buy 30-40 at time. So I usually use 1 block jack cheese, 1 block cheddar, and 1 block of colby. Shred and add to assembly line.
I make up 5 packages of some sort of country gravy- You could most certainly make up your own. 5 packs gives me 5 cups of gravy. I never use this much, But I freeze what I have left for potatoes or whatever while I am at it.
I use 4 sausage rolls, fried up and drained, added to assembly line.
and last is 1 dozen eggs, scrambled and added to assembly line

So I have my assembly line set up like this, shells, sausage, eggs, cheese, gravy.
I wrap in foil, or wax paper, then put in baggies, I use the tortilla baggies if I bought them, They have a ziplock seal. And then I freeze them. Just pop in microwave for about 2 minutes.
Not one of my kids don't like these, but they are rather simple. You could certainly add veggies or potatoes or anything you like. This takes me about an hour to make. And costs me:
eggs-.99
sausage-1.oo each x 4=4.00
5 packs gravy@.33 each=1.65
3 pack cheese at 1.40 each=4.20
If I make my own shells not sure what the cost is, but minimal, If I buy them I get the smaller shells and I pay around .99 each so that would add about $5.00
total cost is $11.80 for 90 breakfast burritos. Happy cooking