Stop and Make a Connection

Something we seem to do less and less is to stop what we're doing and make a connection with strangers around us. Taking the time to speak with someone, hear a little of their story, can affect both you and them.

I have no background medical or psychological fields, but I do know that making a connection with someone, however small, can lift a person's mood.

This past Saturday while out shopping, I was hurrying from store to store. Even with my trusty coupon book and shopping list I felt scattered and frustrated. Before shopping I had gotten the oil changed in my car. The $30.00 oil change became an $80.00 expense. While they were changing the oil and checking my car the technician found the start of a mouses nest. So, they had to clean it out and change my air filter, which they happily showed me. It was covered in mouse poo, sawdust, what appeared to be lint and a whole lot of dust. Needless to say, I was dismayed at the extra cost and disgusted that we were breathing in air that was being filtered thru that thing. It felt like just another thing going wrong and adding to the pile of things we had to pay to fix recently. 

After that sad bit of news, I went to a grocery store. I struck out at the clearance shelves and was headed toward the next sale item I needed to pick up. An older gentleman was passing by me and I smiled at him, he smiled back and said excuse me, thinking he had cut me off. I replied not to worry, I wasn't in a hurry and was enjoying having a few minutes to myself kid free. He chuckled and then he asked me how old, I told him my son was three months old and that kicked off a five minute conversation. It was a random conversation with a stranger about small trivial things, but left me feeling glad to have been there in that moment to speak with him. It turned out that this stranger had more in common with me than I could have imagined. He was a 75 year old physician that was going to be going to his college alumni get together in the next few weeks, it turns out that his college is 30 minutes from the town I grew up in. We chatted about places and things from that area and how much it had changed. 

I walked away from that conversation feeling happy and connected to a man I had never met before. Were my problems still there, of course, but after speaking with that gentleman they didn't seem so bad. Why, because I had stopped dwelling on them for a while and could look at them with a fresh perspective. And sometimes a fresh perspective or a new look is all you need to realize that things aren't so bad.  

Meal Planning

For me meal planning has been a very effective way to save money. I make once list with everything that I'll need for the week and then a large grocery shopping. It stops me from making mid-week trips to the store or asking my hubby to pick something up on his way home.

Meal planning is pretty easy. At first it'll be a little time consuming, but stick with it. The more you do it, the easier it'll get and the faster you can do it.

When making my weekly menu, my first step is take stock of what I have in my fridge and cupboards. I try to make recipes that I have some or all of the ingredients for and by starting with your cupboards to help plan the menu you won't buy something you already have. For example, we had BLT's on Thursday last week and had some left over bacon. So the first meal we had this week was Bacon Pizza.

Once you've taken stock of what you have in your cupboards, look through the sale flyer(s) of your local store(s). I use the sales meats and produce as the main ingredients for all my meals. Like this week you'll see my menu has 2 recipes with broccoli, because it was on sale for .99/lb.

After you've taken a look at what you have and what's on sale, it's time to make your menu. I usually have 3-4 tried and liked meals, 1-2 new recipes and a left over day. Make sure to vary your meals or you'll get bored and not stick to your menu.

A few pointers when you're making the menu:
1. If you are finding recipes online, make sure to note where you found the recipe.
2. Think about your week and plan your meals around your activities.
3. Prep like items together. If you're having chicken in 2 dishes and both dishes need it to be chunked- cut it all at once.
4. Have the menu written down and posted somewhere. You don't want to have to search for what you're making that night, and if your husband is as awesome as mine, he'll start dinner if he gets home first.

To save time, when you're making the menu also make your shopping list. By writing down everything you need for each recipe as you decide on it, you'll save time. You won't have to go back to each recipe later.

Once you have your list, it's time to search your coupons for the items on your list and match up the deals.

Freezer Failure

Today's post was supposed to be about couponing. I apologize but I'll be changing topics. The past 24-48 hours has been a commercial for Murphy's Law. Tuesday, we realized our large chest freezer wasn't working. How you ask? Well, when I went to pull my teriyaki chicken out for dinner it wasn't frozen. Then yesterday morning, I woke up with a tickle in my throat and by the end of the day it was a full blown head cold.

Even though I feel like crap, it's nothing compared to my frustration about losing our freezer.

This freezer was left to us by the previous owners. We were so excited to have a large chest freezer. We had thoughts of making a ton of freeze ahead meals and some of the extras from our garden. We had 10 pre-made meals, 2 pounds of hamburger and a turkey in the freezer. Sadly, we lost it all. We're not sure when it died so we aren't going to risk eating the food. It would be our luck this week, we'd eat it and get all three of us really sick. 

Thankfully, we still have our small chest freezer that we brought with us from our old house. So, we can still shop good meat sales and start building up our freezer meals again. 

I apologize that this is more of a venting post, but I needed a place to let it out. Losing that much food, the time, money and waste of it, makes me so sad and frustrated. Tomorrow, I'll be writing a post about making a menu for the week.

Picking a Coupon Storage Method

Couponing is a helpful way to save money. It can help you build and maintain your stock pile and if done right can keep your grocery bill down. But, and this is a big BUT, don't think it's going to be anything like the show Extreme Couponing. That show is about people who spend hours a day finding their coupons, planning their sales, buying coupons online and some of the time even doing things that are barred by the store's coupon policy. When you see them go through the line with 20+ coupons for the same item that all get doubled, that's not real. Most stores will only double a small number of the same coupon. The stores in my area will only double 4 of the same coupon and will only accept 10 of the same coupon.

The first step to couponing is come up with a storage system that works for you. There are many different options and methods. You'll want to pick one that works for you because picking the system that right for you will help you stick with it. Three of the most widely used methods are the index card holder, 3-ring binder, file folders, or you can purchase a small expandable file folder specifically designed for coupons. You can find one pretty inexpensively on Amazon. 

The index card holder is pretty simple, you can buy everything you need pretty inexpensively. You'll need a plastic index card holder or other small box and dividers that can be labeled. The dividers can be index cards, specially bought dividers, or even pieces of cardboard sitting in your recycling. With this method the coupons are usually lose or clipped together with a paper clip. In order to find them you'll have to thumb through the coupons in that section. This system is basically the homemade version of a store bought coupon organizer or coupon expandable file folder.

The file folder system use manila file folders that can then be separated even further with the hanging file folders. Those that use this method usually store all of their folders in something like a file tote. Usually with this system you do not cut the coupons out and you organize them by the date that the insert came out. You can read more about this system and how it works by going to Frugal Living NW. This system always seemed like a waste to me, you can't see the coupons and you have to rely on someone else telling you about the deals. Also, you can't bring the coupons to the store with you, which can cost you deals, because some of my best buys  were from using coupons on the clearance rack items or items that are reduced to clear.

The system I use is the 3-ring binder. Like the other two it's pretty easy to set up. Get a 3-ring binder, dividers and some inserts. For inserts I use baseball card holders and recently found some inserts specifically made for coupons. These have multiple size pockets that perfectly fit most coupons that are available in the paper. You can easily carry this into the store, it sits nicely in the front basket and all of the coupons you have are at your finger tips.

The next step to getting started with couponing is finding coupons. If you don't already subscribe to the Sunday newspaper you don't have to sign up. Couponing is not for everyone and the goal of it is to save money. So, start off with internet coupons you can find them at Smartsource.com, coupons.com, redplumb.com, the Betty Crocker website and so many more. There are times I even type a product name followed by the word coupon into Google to see if there is one available. You can find some great blogs that way.

One piece of advice, only clip the coupons you will use. Clipping every coupon in the paper or from a website, is a waste of time and if you're printing them out, a waste of your ink and paper.  There are always items that you won't use, like cat litter, if you don't have a cat what good is a cat litter coupon.

I hope this helped give you ideas and inspire you. Tomorrow I'll do a post of some basic do's and don'ts of couponing.

Frugal Things That Stuck

As I discussed in my prior post, I fell off the frugal/thrifty wagon, but there were some frugal things that I started that just stuck. I'm going to discuss some of them here and how easy they are to do.

1. Cutting dryer sheets: Because I have super sensitive skin I only use Bounce Free and Clear sheets. After a few rashes from other brands, I won't switch because I know that this brand will not give me a nasty surprise. One way to save money is buy them when you have a good coupon and cut them up. Dryer sheets are to reduce the static in your clothes from the dryer. Using a whole sheet isn't necessary. I cut them into thirds, tripling the number of loads I can do. For my photos I used an 80 count box, so, instead of 80 loads I'll have 240 loads. Be aware that in the winter you may need to use 2 pieces because it's so dry, but even with this you'll still get extra bang for your buck.

2. Not being brand loyal. Now, I know just above I said I only used Bounce, well that is just about the only brand that I'm 100% loyal to. I can usually use an item as long as it is fragrance free for sensitive skin. I always compare prices to all the brands on a shelf for the product I want. I do not buy name brand unless its on a great sale. Most store brand items are just as good. 

3. Shopping the Clearance racks! I know most people will skip right over these because they feel there is something wrong with the product, especially food. Well, in most cases that's absolutely false! Two weeks ago I found boxes of Rice A Roni for .85 per box. Why, because the boxes were banged up. It looks like they something fell on them but none of the boxes were open, so even though they were dented the food was still good. Keep in mind if you use coupons, bring them with you to the store. Most stores will allow you to still use coupons on clearance items, making it an incredible buy. 

4. Asking yourself, why do I need this. When making a purchase I always ask myself this, even with food that's not on my grocery list. If you can't answer it with something like, I just remembered I'm out or it's something that my family uses a lot and its on a surprise sale, or on the clearance rack and I can stock up to save money in the future, then you probably shouldn't get it. Now, I'm not saying don't treat yourself or splurge occasionally, what I'm saying is don't buy lobster or steak at the highest price while wandering thru the store trying to find dinner. It will kill your budget. 

5. Making a weekly meal plan and doing all your shopping at once. I've tried to keep up with this but fell off for a while during the last part of my pregnancy. I've recently got back into it and can already see the payoffs again. Meal planning isn't all that hard, look at what you have in your house, check the flyer for the local store and come up with meals you know you like. If you want to be adventurous pick 1 meal you haven't tried before, don't do all new meals with large ingredient lists that you have to buy all or most of. Once you have your menu, confirm what items you already have in your cupboards and refrigerator, put together a shopping list and stick to it. Make sure you take into account breakfast, lunch and some snacks too. To help with my menu, I purchased a small magnetic white board for my fridge. I found it on Amazon for $18.95.  This menu is GREAT, it keeps me on track with what I'm cooking, helps me remember if I need to grab something out of the freezer and lets my husband know whats for dinner. If he knows whats for dinner, he's great about getting dinner started.

Starting my frugal Journey - all over again

I've been on the frugal train a number of times over the years, and over the past year we have let some of our frugal ways slip. This year has been a year of changes, we bought a house, a car and had a baby. Our budget is pushed to the limit and we're looking for ways to trim the 'fat' off it.

Just before our second wedding anniversary my husband and I got bit by the house bug and we bought a house. This house was okay for the first year or two and then we realized we made a HUGE mistake. We hated the house's location, the house was built in the 1880's and needed a ton of work and we found that prior repairs to the house were done wrong. We sunk quite a bit of money into the house for new repairs and to redo repairs. The only good thing about the house was its proximity to my work. It was only a 20 minute walk, this allowed me to not only get exercise but save on purchasing a monthly parking pass.

We realized we didn't get a great deal on our house and looking back on it felt pressured to buy quickly. After that experience we changed real estate agents and shopped around for a mortgage. We decided to hold off on seriously looking for houses because we had to sell our house first. It took almost 6 months before our buyer made an offer. Then the whirl wind began, we looked at 30-40 houses. Our home was a house that we put on the list to see at the last minute and doubted we'd actually like it. The item that got it on the list was the wood stove. My husband and I both thought that would be wonderful to have a wood stove. Once we saw the house, even though it wasn't the two story classic house we had been looking for, we realized immediately, it was perfect. We came in under asking and on February 14th the seller accepted our offer. Then on February 17th we found out we were pregnant.

We took a mortgage that was a little higher than we wanted but didn't mind because we had enough room in our budget to absorb this and still have money left over to keep adding to our savings. Then in October just before our son was born, we decided to take the step to purchase an SUV. We needed an SUV to make it up and down the hill to our house, without it my husband wouldn't be able to get into work.

Then my son was born at the end of October. Thankfully, my husband and I were very conscious of the fact that we would have medical bills. We saved throughout the year and knew we had the money for the bills so we could pay them as soon as they came in.

Unfortunately, taking on a higher mortgage, purchasing a car and having the expenses of a child have strained our budget significantly. It didn't help that my company only pays my salary at a percentage. Thankfully, we worked hard to plan ahead and have been able to stay current on all our bills, however, to do so we've had to dip into our savings. Now we need to go back to being incredibly frugal and building our savings back up. Which is one reason I've started writing this blog,  I want to chronicle my journey and hopefully help others by discussing my successes and failures. Because let's be real- not everything we try is a success.

Dishwasher Disaster Averted

Phew, we didn't lose power. We did get a lot of sleet and freezing rain and only about 2 inches of snow.

Today's post is about my dishwasher (almost) Disaster. In one of my prior posts I mentioned that my dishwasher broke. This is a perfect example of researching all of your options before you go for the most expensive one.

On Sunday, three weeks ago, after cooking up multiple meals for the week, I ran the dishwasher and thought it sounded funny. When it finished, the dishes were not clean. Turns out the funny noise was the dishwasher unsuccessfully trying to draw water.  So, not only did I have two full dishwasher loads of dishes but my husband had to go to work. So, I was alone with all those dishes and my little man. After a frantic call to my step-father-in-law, who is a handy man, and about 10 minutes of poor-pitiful me, I started in on the dishes. I had to stop often for my little guy, so, it took me hours to get them all done.



My step-father-in-law was able to come up the next Friday to look at it.  He wasn't sure what was wrong but felt that it might be the float valve. So, I ordered the Switch Flood Assembly, its what GE calls the float valve on this model. It came in the mail on Saturday and my step-father-in-law came up the next day. He was able to switch the part out in about 10 minutes and my dishwasher was fixed. I was so thankful, it had been three weeks of doing dishes by hand, that I started to tear up. I was also grateful we could get it fixed for a fraction of the cost of a new one. I got the part directly from GE & with shipping it only cost $52.20.

The switch flood appeared to have some type of build-up on it and had the float had stopped moving. So, it wasn't opening to pull water in. The part itself doesn't seem damaged, so, I'm going to try and clean it with vinegar. If it seems to work, I'll save it as a spare in case this ever happens again.

Being able to find a cost effective replacement part was such a relief! My husband and I are trying to cut our expenses, so, having to buy a new dishwasher would have been a huge hit to our budget.


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