My sister observed my son tearing apart my kitchen cupboards and insisted that he needed a kitchen of his own. I thought it was ridiculous to spend a lot of money on something I wasn’t sure he would even use. Succumbing to a sisterly guilt trip, I decided if I could find one for underRead More
What I Miss Most About Living Near the Beach
Most of my adult life I have lived on or near a beach. I now live in a landlocked state, and I feel it most acutely during the summer! Last weekend I was really missing the beach, so my husband drove me to the nearest lake. We had a lovely day at the lake, butRead More
It Is Better to Have Tried and Failed…
My food waste for this week is semi-homemade hummus. At Whole Foods Market they sell hummus mix in bulk for less than $3.00 a pound. I had been buying small packages (8 oz. container – I think) of premade hummus at Trader Joe’s for $2.99. I thought this was a good opportunity to save moneyRead More
The Great Flower Compromise
As my husband was leaving work to pick me up on one of our first dates a colleague asked, “aren’t you going to bring her flowers?” It was too late for my husband to purchase any before picking me up, so when he arrived he greeted me by apologizing for not bringing flowers. Being myRead More
The "Uniform"
A couple of months ago Gwenyth Paltrow received a lot of negative attention for her new blog GOOP. I decided to check it out and could not figure out what the big deal was all about. I personally believe that if you have an open mind you can learn from almost anybody. I am notRead More
You Can Train Children, But Not Husbands
We wasted food again this week. Well, actually my husband wasted food, because nobody else would have opened this can of olives to begin with and if they did they would have transferred the contents to a glass bowl with a lid per mom’s food saving guidelines! Unfortunately, my husband is the only one whoRead More
Making More Room in Your Freezer
I buy food in bulk when it is on sale. The limiting factor when it comes to stocking up on meat is my freezer space. I wish that I had a large capacity freezer, but until a great bargain comes along I will continue to cram as much food as possible into the little freezerRead More
Mistress of the Obvious!
Stop the presses! This news just in: Refrigerating Fruit Keeps it Fresh Longer! I realize that this probably seems very obvious to some, maybe even most of you, but I just realized this last month. Until last month, I kept my fruit in baskets on the counter. My theory was that if my children hadRead More
Cost Per Serving Calculator
On Wednesdays I go through all of the grocery store ads and make my shopping list. Most of the time it is obvious which sale price on meat is the best bargain: whole chickens $0.67 a lb., boneless pork loin $0.99 a lb., etc. However, there are times when the decision is not so simple.Read More
Minimizing Paper Usage in the Kitchen
Last year I decided to go paperless in our kitchen and stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins. I pulled out the cloth napkins and put them on the counter. And most importantly, I introduced my family to kitchen towels. I purchased most of my napkins at after-holiday clearance sales. Some I made myself byRead More
Alternatives to Buying Bottled Water
Or Spending Money to Save Money The tap water in our area doesn’t taste very good. It is safe to drink, but it has a faint taste of chlorine. For a long time we bought 2 1/2 gallon jugs of water to use in our kitchen and cases of bottled water to take with usRead More
How to Make Dishwasher Detergent
I make my own dishwasher detergent because we have a septic tank and most dishwasher detergents contain bleach which is bad for septic tanks. Making my own dishwasher soap allows me to use septic safe ingredients in my detergent. An added benefit of making my own dishwasher detergent is that it is much more frugalRead More
Recycling and Reusing Items to Save Money
We used to live in an area where our waste collection company gave us 3 cans as part of our standard service: One for yard waste, one for recyclables, and one for garbage. When we moved to our present location the waste company asked if we wanted to go with the same plan as theRead More
Water Saving Tips
The weather in our area varies wildly in the spring and fall. Every time it dips below freezing we have to turn off and drain our sprinklers. It is a time consuming process. It is also painful for me to watch all of the water being wasted as it is draining into the pasture. AfterRead More
Premeditated Leftovers
Last summer, during the height of the fuel crisis, I like a lot of Americans started trying to find new ways to save money. Many of the ideas I came up with are not actually new, but things I learned from my parents and grandparents, but had not implemented in my own household because IRead More
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