Learning The Frugal Life

Stocking up on Bananas

2012-02-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Look what I picked up from my local grocery store last night. 2 bags full of $.99 bananas. Looks like I will be baking bread this weekend. What I don't use this weekend I will peel, divide into bags, and pop in the freezer for future baking and smoothies.

Here is my banana bread recipe if your interested.

Banana Bread

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup flour
2/3 coup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup ripe mashed banana
1/3 cup shortening, margarine or butter
2 T of milk
2 eggs
1/4 chopped nuts (optional)

In lg bowl combine 1 cup of the flour and all other dry ingredients. Add mashed banana, milk and butter. Mix well with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour and eggs. Mix till blended.

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 350 for 55 minutes.

This post is linked to Foodie Friday.

Fareway Deals Week of 2/7-2/13

2012-02-08T04:35:00.000-08:00

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 54

2012-02-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to reading this weeks frugal tips. Thanks for joining us.

If this is the first time your visiting the Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Jennifer at Getting Ahead
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all three of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

Think Before You Buy

2012-02-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

Photo Credit

One easy way to save some money is to think before you buy. This is something that I have gotten better at, but it can take time. When you come across something you want to purchase, take some time and think about it. First off, is it something you really need or is it just something you would like to have? Is there another option? Could you possibly borrow that item from a friend or family member? Is it something you could buy second hand?

You should reconsider even small purchases like that clearanced shirt or discounted toy. Stop and think to yourself is this something I really need or am I just buying it because it's cheap. When faced with impulse buys it's best to just walk away. Go home and think about it. If it is really something you want you can always go back. Chances are though, if you can walk away from it, you really didn't need it in the first place.

This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-02-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

After getting input from the family here is what is on our menu this week.

Monday...Japanese chicken salad and pineapple.
Tuesday...Baked ziti, garlic bread sticks and lettuce salad.
Wednesday...Chicken quesidillas, veggies and pears.
Thursday...Pork Tenderloin sandwiches, steamed carrots, peaches.
Friday...Leftovers.

Teenager Finances - How do you deal with teenager expenses?

2012-02-03T04:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight my husband and I have plans to sit down once the kids go to bed and go over our monthly budget together. I am actually really looking forward to this. For one, it will be a time that we can spend talking things out and planning our future. For another it keeps him in the loop with what is going on. I handle all the finances for the family. I pay bills, write checks for school lunch, know what we pay for insurance, etc. Sitting down with my husband and going over expenses every couple weeks lets him know where his hard earned money is going.

One of the main topics I want to discuss with my husband tonight is our children's allowance. Here is my dilemma. We have a son who will be 16 in 2 weeks. He is very involved in school sports and activities.. He is also very social. Once a week his basketball team goes out to dinner. There are also times where he wants to go with his friends for lunch or after school for a "snack" (with a teenage boy this means heading to Burger King for his first dinner).

As of right now we give him $20 a month for an allowance. He has to pay for his own extra activities. We bought him a school pass which allows him to get into all the school related sports events for the year. So that is one expense that is already covered. The problem we are having is he is running out of money very early in the month. For example his team had a dinner at IHOP the other night. His meal, along with tip (which is another item we have to discus with our teenager himself) cost almost $15!! 2 days into the month he is down to $5.

I want him to be involved with school and friends but I also don't want to go broke in doing so. Since he does not have a car we don't have to deal with gas or insurance but that is going to have to be discussed in the near future as well.

I know we have a lot of options. Unfortunately $20 a month, won't get you very far. Ideally he should get a job and pay for some of his expenses. However, like I said he is involved with sports each month and I think this is very important and teaches him a lot of life skills. He is doing great this year with his grades, really striving to get a good GPA so that he can get into college. I don't want him to have to work many hours each week and then see his grades slip. I also don't want to cause more stress, since I think teenagers already have a lot more stress and peer pressure these days then we did as kids.

There is a lot to think about and discuss. I am curious, any of you with teenagers, how do you handle finances? Do you give an allowance? Limit the amount of activities they do? Require them to get a job?

New Month = Budget Review

2012-02-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

It's a new month which means time to review your budget. Has anything changed in the last month? Income, expenses, have you planned a summer vacation, bought a new vehicle? Review each of your categories and make note of any changes.

Take some time this weekend to sit down and look over your budget. It is there to guide you and keep you on track with spending.

31 Days of Nothing - Recap

2012-02-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

Our 31 Days of Nothing is over. I feel like we succeeded in this challenge. Here is a quick recap of the month.

1. I was able to stay within my $100 grocery budget and still fed my family healthy meals. I made one last trip at the end of the week to use some high dollar coupons that were going to expire. The margarine was at a stock up price of $.50 lb so I picked up a few of those. I still use margarine in some of my baking. The 2 liter was a "thank you" to my sweet husband for going along the entire month with the challenge and doing an amazing job and the gum cost me $.28 each. After coupons I spent $15.35 bringing my monthly total to $95.89.2. We succeeded in not spending any money on entertainment. We made a few trips to the library and picked up some free movies as opposed to renting. I made treats at home instead of going out for ice cream.

3. It is possible to stay out of the stores. We managed to not purchase any clothing, books, videos, games, etc. Even though I have 2 children who need shoes we have been able to postpone that and squeeze a couple more weeks out of the shoes they have. This will be one of our first purchases we make now that the challenge is over.

4. What little food waste we have had, has been taken to the compost bin. We have a good system where we collect scraps in a container inside each day and then after dinner each night one of the boys is assigned to dump it in the 5 gallon bucket outside. Then once a week the bucket outside the door is taken to the pile by the woods.

5. We made and ate dinner at home each night. The only exceptions were 1 night we used a coupon for a free pizza from Casey's and another night we ate at a fundraising spaghetti dinner that was held by my nephews boy scout troop.

6. The kids have done really well watching their water usage and remembering to turn lights and electronics off when they leave the room. I am most impressed with my oldest son who has cut his shower times in half.

I must admit this last week has been tough. There was many times I really wanted to run through and grab an ice cream cone or pick up a candy bar when checking out at the store. I stuck to it though and passed up the opportunities. Unfortunately we had some major expenses come up this month and we didn't really save any money. However, we are able to pay for these unexpected expenses because we didn't spend any unnecessary money this month.

I really enjoy challenging myself and my family. It was fun having others join in and reading their progress each week. I will definitely be doing it again. Thanks for following along.

How about you? Where you successful this month? Did you learn anything new? Feel free to leave a comment or link up your blog post below.

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 1/31-2/13

2012-02-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

Hy-Vee has a large ad this week. There are lots of in ad coupons so make sure you stop and pick up a copy if you don't already have one. There are lots of deals this week and to save myself some sanity (it's been a long week already) I have decided not to do the match-ups.

I won't leave you high and dry though. You can head over to Penny Pinchin Mom. She has the match-ups for you. It looks like her ad only runs though the 7th though and ours is a 2 week ad ending on the 13th. So, you will want to check to make sure these deals are valid in our area.

If you have any questions feel free to send me an email or find me on Facebook.

You can print additional coupons to go along with these match-ups at Smartsource.com and Coupons.com.

Fareway Deals Week of 1/31-2/6

2012-01-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome Grocery Gathering readers! Here is a list of current deals that I see at Fareway. I use central Iowas ad when making this list. My store takes printable coupons as well as manufacturer coupons from the paper. Please check your local ad to confirm these deals in your area. I know they run different ads in different locations.

Need help with my lingo? You can read this post to help you out. Just starting out with coupons? Order my Grocery Rules ebook and learn all about coupons, meal planning and other money saving tips. It is located on the right side bar.

You can print additional coupons to go along with these match-ups at Smartsource.com and Coupons.com.

Large ad this week. Lots of deals to get you pumped for the Big Game. Let me know if you see something I missed.

Grocery
Mission Soft Tortilla's 10 ct $1.50
Fareway Tortilla Chips $.99
Fareway Hamburger or Hotdog Buns $.98
Fareway Potato Chips $.99 (with in ad coupon)

Nabisco Snack Crackers $1.77
- $1.00/2 here
= $1.27 each when you buy 2

Velveeta Cheese $5.49
- $.55 (1/22 SS)
= $4.94

Jolly Time Popcorn 2-4 ct 3/$4 or $1.33 each
- $.50 (12/11 and 1/15 SS and here)
= $.83

Progresso Soup $1.25
- $1.00/4 (1/8 GM or 12/11 SS)
= $1.00 each when you buy 4

Chi Chi's Flour Tortilla 8 ct $1.50
- $.50 (1/8 SS)
= $1.00

Chi Chi's Salsa $1.79
- $.50 (1/8 SS)
= $1.29

Blue Diamond Almonds 6 oz can $2.00
- $1.00/1 (1/29 SS)
= $1.00

Keebler Club Crackers $1.87
- $1.00/2 (1/29 RP)
= $1.37 each when you buy 2

Keebler Cheez Its $2.39
- $1.00/2 (1/29 RP)
= $1.89 each when you buy 2

Save $4 when you buy any combination of 5 Kraft Food Products listed:
Miracle Whip $2.99
Kraft American Singles $2.29
Kraft Natural Cheese Slices $2.49
Kraft Mac and Cheese 5 pk $3.79
Oscar Mayer Bacon $2.79
Planter's Peanuts $2.79
Crystal Light Drink Mix $1.99
Ritz Crackers $1.79 - $1.00/2 here
If you buy 5 products, you can subtract $.80 from the original price to figure the price with coupon. If you have manufacturer coupons to stack this will make an even sweeter deal.

Meat
Whole Boneless Pork Loins $1.69 lb avg 6-8 lbs limit 2
Bone In Chicken Breast $1.29 lb
Hormel Flavored Pork Loin Fillets B1 @ $7.99 G1 Free (with in ad coupon)

Johnsonville Smoked Brats $2.50
- $1.00/2 (1/22 SS, I think this coupon will work, the pic in the ad is the same on the coupon)
= $2.00 each when you buy 2

Hormel Sliced Pepperoni $2.50
- $1.00/2 (1/15 SS) or
- $.55/2 here
= as low as $2.00 each when you buy 2

Produce
Dole Salad Blends and Kits $.99
Clementines 5 lbs $3.99
Avocados $.69 each
Yellow Onions 3 lbs $.99
Dole Sugar Snap Peas, Broccoli Florets, Cauliflower Florets or Broccoli Slaw $1.50
Washington Fancy Red or Golden Delicious Apples $.77 lb
Chilean Red Grapes $1.48 lb

Dairy
Anderson Erickson Dip 8oz 2/$1.00 (with in ad coupon)

Free Large Eggs when you buy any 3 Participating Pillsbury Products in 1 shopping order (with in ad coupon)
Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookies $2.50
Pizza Crust $2.00
Crescent Rolls, Dinner Rolls or Bread Sticks $2.00
Sweet Rolls $2.00
Pie Crust $2.50
There are many coupons to combine with the above items. Check out the 12/11 SS, 1/8 GM, 1/29 SS and here.

Kraft Cheese Shreds, Chunks, Cubes or Crumbles $1.88
- $.55/2 (1/15 SS)
= 2/$3.21

Frozen
Blue Bunny Ice Cream Pail $4.88

New York Garlic Bread $2.00
- $.40 (1/15 SS)
= $1.60

Reames Egg noodles 12 oz $1.88
- $.50 (11/20 SS)
= $1.38

Red Baron Pizza 3/$10 or $3.33 each
- $1.00/2 (1/22 SS)
= about $2.83 each when you buy 2

Totinos Pizza Rolls 15 ct. $1.00
- $.40/2 (1/8 GM)
= $.80 each when you buy 2

Digiorno Pizza Ultimate, Stuffed Crust, With Wings or Breadsticks $5.88
- $2.00/2 (1/29 RP)
= $4.88 each when you buy 2

Beverage
Pepsi Product 12 pks or 6 pk bottles 4/$10 (with in ad coupon)
- $2/2 Bottles only (1/22 SS)
= 4/$8

This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering.

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 53

2012-01-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the kick off of our second year of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We are excited that you are joining us!

If this is the first time your visiting the Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Jennifer at Getting Ahead
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all three of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

Homemade Egg Noodles

2012-01-30T18:37:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to try and make my own noodles. I enjoy going to the Farmer's Market and checking out the booths selling homemade noodles. Some how the task always seemed a bit daunting.

Then a few weeks ago, I was contacted by an old high school classmate. We didn't know each other when we were in school. Roughly 15 years later we bump into each other in the hallway outside our children's Kindergarten classroom. We get to talking and I find it fun that she is a backyard chicken owner as well! We eventually meet for coffee and realize we have lots in common. The following week she taught and helped me prepare my first batch of homemade noodles. She has been making them since she was a child so who better to learn from.

I was surprised how easy it really is. Here is the process.

First thing is to start off with a nice, clean counter. A good amount of counter space is important. If only my kitchen counters always looked this nice. The ingredients are as follows:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
2 Tablespoons milkCombine all ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a pastry blender. Once mixed place dough ball onto a well floured surface.We quadrupled the recipe. I wanted to make sure I would have extras for future use. Roll dough out to desired thickness. Having lots of flour is key. This will make sure the dough does not stick to the counter or rolling pin. You can't have too much flour. It's a little hard to see because the dough is about the same color as the counter.
Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into strips. You can make them as skinny or as wide as you like. I really like the Reames frozen egg noodles so that was the size I used as a reference. Once all the dough is cut, you can add them directly to your soup. You can also leave them there to dry for a few hours. I let mine sit about 6 hours before I placed them into a sealed container.
I added the noodles to our chicken that had been cooking all day and it made the most delicious chicken and noodle soup.
I can now add this to my list of things to make at home instead of buying at the grocery store. I am so excited. Thank you Heather for teaching me!

If you have leftover noodles that you won't be using right away I have read that you can store them in a sealed container for up to a month. Do any of you have experience with preserving noodles? Do you keep them in a container or place them in the freezer? I'm interested in what you have to say.

This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.

Family Fun Magazine Subscription Only $3.99

2012-01-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

Right now, for a short time you can get a subscription to Family Fun magazine for just $3.99. Use coupon code "SAVINGS" at checkout. I love this magazine. It is full of great articles, recipes and crafts for you and your kiddos.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-29T19:37:00.001-08:00

Only a few more days left of January. That is hard to believe. We are suppose to have some beautiful weather here this week in central Iowa. Looks like we will be doing some grilling. Here is what is on our menu for this week.

Monday...Steak, grilled bread, lettuce salad, baked potatoes and peaches.
Tuesday...Homemade pizza, lettuce salad and oranges.
Wednesday...Taco casserole (recipe coming soon), and pineapple.
Thursday...Homemade chicken strips, broccoli and fruit.
Friday...Potato soup, dinner rolls and pears.

To see what others are having this week head over to I'm and Organizing Junkie.

Printable Coupons

2012-01-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

Make sure you head over and check out the printable coupons. There was some new ones added. Here are just a few.

$1.00 off any JOSÉ OLÉ brand item

$0.40 off one Frigo Cheese Heads String Cheese

$1.00 off 1 Cream Cheese w/1 Keebler Toasteds

On any ONE Keebler Club Crackers

31 Days of Nothing - Week 4

2012-01-27T04:45:00.000-08:00

This is the last Friday of the month. We have almost completed the challenge! I will be doing one more post and link up next week to give an overview of the month. I am really looking forward to hearing how everyone did.

Well this was an interesting week to say the least. On Tuesday my oldest son broke his hand requiring a trip to both our primary care doctor and an Orthopedic specialist. The totals for that day cost me $70 and that is just the beginning of the charges I'm sure.

Here were our other expenses for the week.

$46.o6 spent on gas to fill up my husbands Jeep.

Over the weekend we celebrated 2 birthdays and also attended a fundraising dinner for my nephews who are in Boy Scouts. Total spent on those events was $54.00.

Prescription $2.33.

2 grocery trips. $10.44 was spent on the following. ($.45 for each of the 2 liters-good eye by my husband!)$16.55 was spent on the second trip.Total spent for the week on groceries was $26.99, bringing my total for the month to $80.54. I think we can get away with staying out of the grocery store for the rest of the month.

Today was a huge bummer financially. We took my van in yesterday because the heater wasn't working. After all the inspections they told us that is was going to cost us $1400 to fix. That isn't even fixing everything that is wrong. This is just to get us driving safely again. Sigh...so it looks like we won't be saving much money after all this month. The only good thing is that now we have a little extra money to go towards this large, unexpected expense.

How did your week go? Leave a comment or link up your blog post below.

What's on Your Book Shelf?

2012-01-26T06:21:00.001-08:00

I have been on a reading kick lately. I have been actually reading big girl books instead of just Batman and nursery rhymes! It's a nice change. I haven't spent time reading in a very long time. I went to the library the other day and in the few minutes I had to look for myself I found a few books. Currently I am reading...

Organizing Your Home and Family by Sandra Felton.
And Fresh Living by Sara Snow.I am looking for some ideas on books to read. Categories I am interested in include simple living, green living, frugal living and homesteading. If you have any recommendations I would love to hear them.

What's on your book shelf?

Homemade Bread Recipe

2012-01-25T09:14:00.001-08:00

I have been back to making my own bread pretty faithfully the last couple months instead of buying store bought. It took a little while to convince the kids that this was a much better bread both economically and nutritionally. Now 2/5 of the children love it, the other 2/5 will eat it if they have too which is really all that matters, and the baby will eat anything so she doesn't count. My husband and I both really like this bread especially warm out of the oven with butter or honey!

We use this bread for everything. It makes great toast, sandwich bread or just plain ol' bread and butter. I have posted the recipe before but here it is again with a few variations.

Ingredients~

2 cups warm water (110 degrees)

2/3 cup honey *or sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoon yeast

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oil

6 cups bread flour *I use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 4 cups bread flour, you can adjust it however you like.

Directions~

1.In a large bowl dissolve honey or sugar in warm water and then stir in yeast. Allow to foam.

2. Mix salt and oil into yeast mixture. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface till smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl and cover with damp cloth. Allow to rise till double in bulk, about 1 hour.

3. Punch down and knead for a few more minutes. Divide dough in half and shape into loaves. Place into well oiled bread pans. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes or until dough is 1 inch above the pan.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

You can brush butter on the tops once it's out of the oven if you like. Enjoy!

Original recipe can be found here.

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 1/24-1/30

2012-01-24T17:40:00.002-08:00

Welcome Grocery Gathering readers! Here is a list of the deals that I see at Hy-Vee for this week. I use central Iowas ad when making this list. My store takes both printable coupons and manufacturer coupons from the paper. Please check your local ad to confirm these deals in your area.

Need help with my lingo? You can read this post to help you out. Just starting out with coupons? Order my Grocery Rules ebook and learn all about coupons, meal planning and other money saving tips. It is located on the right side bar.

You can print additional coupons to go along with these match-ups at Smartsource.com and Coupons.com.

Hy-Vee Frozen Sack Sale Friday and Saturday January 27 and 28
15% off all the frozen items you can fit into a grocery sack. Remember you can combine manufacturer coupons with this sack sale for an even bigger savings!

Grocery
Hy-Vee Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce 15 oz $.50
Hy-Vee Ketchup$.69
Doritos, Ruffles or Lay's Chips $2.50

Buy 3 General Mills Cereal at 3 for $9, Get a coupon for $3 off your next grocery order.
- $.75 General Mills Fiber One Original, Honey Clusters, Raisin Bran Clusters, Caramel Delight, Frosted Shredded Wheat (1/1 SS) or
- $1.00/2 select cereals (1/22 SS) or
- $1.00/3 select cereals (1/8 SS)
= prices will vary

Campbells Spaghetti or Spaghettios $.59
- $.40/3 (12/4 SS)
= about $.46 each when you buy 3

Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding $1.00
Buy 5, Get 1 Free, Hy-Vee in ad coupon combine with
- $.45/3 (1/1 SS)
= about $.76 each when you get 6

Prego Pasta Sauce $1.77
- $1.00/3 (1/8 SS)
= about $1.44 each when you buy 3 or
- $1.00/2 Prego Smart Italian Sauce if included in sale
= $1.27 each

Campbell's Condensed Soups $1.00
- $.40/4 (12/4 and 1/8 SS)
= $.90 each when you buy 4

Buy any 3 Kellogg's Special K Products on pg 5 of the ad get $3 off Milk (in ad coupon)
Special K cereal $2.99
Special K Bars or Crackers $2.50
Lots of coupons in the 1/1 RP insert including
- $1.00/3 Special K Bars
- $1.00/2 Crackers
- $1.00/3 Cereal and
- $.75/2 Bars (1/22 RP)
= prices will vary

Nabisco Ritz or Snack Crackers $1.68
- $3/3 (1/8 SS)
= $.69 each when you buy 3

Hamburger, Tuna or Chicken Helper $1.00
- $1.00/5 (1/8 GM)
= $.80 each when you buy 5

Meat
Boneless Beef Chuck Roast $2.77 lb
Hy-Vee Chicken Drumsticks or Thighs $.97 lb

Buy 1 lb or Di Lusso Sliced Meat get 1/2 lb Cheese Free (in ad coupon)
Di Lusso Thin Sliced Chicken or Turkey $6.99 lb

Produce
Chilean Red Grapes $1.49 lb
Blueberries $2.88 pint
Dole Salad Kits $2.50
Asparagus $2.68 lb
Cantaloupe $2.48
Radishes $.50 each
Tomatoes $.98 lb
Red Bell Peppers 3/$2

Dairy
Hy-Vee Sour Cream 8 oz $.69
Weight Watchers Yogurt $.50

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $1.00
- $.40/2 (1/8 GM, 12/11 SS, 12/4 SS) or here
= $.80 each when you buy 2

Pillsbury Grands $1.00
- $.30/2 (1/8 GM or 12/11 SS) or here
= $.85 each when you buy 2

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $1.25
- $.30 (1/8 GM) or here or
- $.40/2 (12/11 SS)
= as low as $.95

Let me know if you see something I missed. This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering.

Fareway Deals Week of 1/24-1/30

2012-01-24T17:40:00.001-08:00

And the Winners are...

2012-01-24T17:33:00.000-08:00

The 2 winners of my Grocery Rules Ebook are...

Shelley who wrote

My favorite tip was how to make your own dishwasher detergent. Big money saver.

and preemie-mommy who wrote

Thanks for all of your tips. I love all of the "top ten", etc. ways to save. I like step-by-step frugal tips and I love the frugal recipes posted. Thanks!

Congratulations ladies. Please contact me to receive your ebook.

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 1/24-1/30

2012-01-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

Frugal Tuesday Tip - Meet Your Hostesses!

2012-01-23T23:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Frugal Tuesday Tip! What do you think of the new look? We are very excited to kick off our second year with a new look and new hostesses. We will not be hosting a linky this week, instead we thought it would be good to introduce ourselves to you. So here we are, the ladies behind the Frugal Tuesday Tip.
Hi, I’m Jennifer from Getting Ahead. I have been living the frugal life ever since marrying my school teacher husband 15 years ago. Out of necessity we paid off debt, cooked from scratch, cloth diapered, clipped coupons and did just about everything ourselves so that I could stay home with our 4 children.

We live in Ohio now and all the kids are in school. I still cook from scratch, live frugally, and save money but now I also work from home, chauffeur the kids to gymnastics and soccer, grow some of our own food and try to feed my family from local, organic sources as much as possible - all while sticking to a rather small budget.

When I am not hosting Frugal Tuesday Tips you can find me at Getting Ahead where I talk about frugal living, saving money, getting financial freedom and raising kids.

My first memories of coupons are of my grandpa redeeming rebates. He always liked to ‘beat the man’ and get his money back. To him, Discover Card’s cash back was the one of best things since sliced bread (and he knew what unsliced bread was!).

I began using coupons when my friend Jean encouraged me to join her yet-to-be-created coupon train circa 2008. We used yahoogroups to stay in touch with everyone on the train. It was pre-Facebook and worked very well to ingrain frugal habits into my life, and with four kids, I needed those habits!

I had the idea to collaborate last year and gathered three other frugal bloggers to join – we used Kimberly’s name Frugal Tuesday Tip, and ever since then, I have been the linky manager. If you link the same post twice, or don’t use a permalink, I am the one who contacts you. I look forward to another year of learning with all our linky friends!

Julia lives online at juliecache.com, her crafty, personal, beekeeping, bloggy space; Examiner.com as Des Moines (IA)’s Frugal Family Examiner; Three Sisters’ Home Learning Resources, a home school event production company; and at juliecache.blogspot.com where she tells her geocaching tales.

Hi, My name is Sara and I blog at Learning the Frugal Life. I started living more frugally after my family and I did a 30 days of nothing challenge back in January 2009.

That challenge changed the way we lived forever and I started blogging about it. I blog about lots of different topics including frugal and green living, recipes, coupons, gardening, and backyard chicken raising We are still learning everyday how to live a more simple, frugal lifestyle and be content with what we have.

I am one of the original Frugal Tuesday Tip hostesses and I am excited to host another year. I truly look forward to Tuesdays and reading everyone's tips and ideas. I hope you continue to join us each week and this linky will provide you some ideas on how to live a more frugal life.

I hope you will join us next week for the start of our second year of the Frugal Tuesday Tip! Feel free to add our new button to your own blog and help us spread the word.

Frugal Tuesday Tip - Break

2012-01-23T13:52:00.001-08:00

The Frugal Tuesday Tip will be taking a 1 week break to finalize our plans and prepare ourselves for a new look and a new member for the new year! We are excited to introduce you to Jennifer from Getting Ahead.

Please come back tomorrow for a special post where you can "get to know" your Frugal Tuesday Tip hostesses. Then join us again next week for our kick off of the second year of the Frugal Tuesday Tip.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-22T18:51:00.002-08:00

It is the last full week of January and the last full week of the 31 Days of Nothing Challenge. We are still sitting pretty well on food in our pantry and freezers. Here is our menu for this week.

Monday...Fried fish, corn, blueberry muffins and pears.

Tuesday..Japanese chicken salad and apples.

Wednesday...Pancakes, bacon, pears.

Thursday...Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, carrot sticks and peaches.

Friday... .Orange chicken from the freezer, rice, salad and pineapple.

To see what others are having this week, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

31 Days of Nothing - Week 3

2012-01-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

This week went amazing well. The cold weather kept me in the house most of the time. I did go out on Monday to take my son to a birthday party. We stopped at Target to buy a gift and I felt some urges as I walked past the shoe and clothing department. I saw lots of clearance signs. One of those was on winter snow boots. I felt a little tug knowing that all my kids would need new winter boots next year. They were still $14 even at 50% off. I walked away from Target only buying the gift that we came there to get.

I was telling my husband about all the clearance signs when I got home and he said "but really how much of that stuff do we really need?" The only thing we would really need were the boots and the chances of me finding some on a community swap or at a garage sale in the Spring for just a couple bucks is pretty high. So I was pretty happy that I resisted the urge to buy stuff.

I went all week without going to the grocery store. I finally went in last night because the baby needed milk. I spent $11.52. That puts my total to $53.55 for the month.I have gone almost 2 weeks without getting gas in my vehicle. That is unheard of! I still had about half a tank left and decided to go ahead and fill up since the temps in our area where getting close to zero. I spent $33 on gas.

We didn't spend money on anything else this week other than 1 prescription. My husband bought his first soda at work. He had a rough week. He has gone from buying a soda almost every day to just one in 20 days. I'm ok with that.

So now it's your turn. How did your week go? Leave a comment or link up your blog post below. I look forward to hearing how your week went.

New Printable Coupons

2012-01-20T06:09:00.000-08:00

Gotta love those printable coupons. Here is just a sample of what is available.

$1.00 off when you buy TWO Knorr® Homestyle Stocks

65¢ off when you buy ONE Knorr® Homestyle Stock

Buy 3 Kellogg's® Pop-Tarts® toaster pastries and/or Kellogg's (TM) Pop-Tarts mini crisps (TM) (6 ct. or Larger), Save $1.00. Expires 2/8/2012. One time use only.

Buy 2 packages of Kotex® products, Save $1.50. Expires 2/1/2012. One time use only.

Coupons.com is one of my favorite sites and is currently offering lots of high dollar toy coupons as well as other coupons.

$0.50 off 5 Campbell's Spaghetti0's pasta

$8.00 off SCRABBLE, SIMON, or YAHTZEE FLASH

$3.00 off TRANSFORMERS Deluxe action figure

$5.00 off when you buy one NERF VORTEX PRAXIS blas

$8.00 off when you buy one BABY ALIVE MY BABY ALIV

$5.00 off when you buy one PLAY-DOH MEGA PACK

$5.00 off BOP IT! XT game

$8.00 off when you buy one PLAYSKOOL SESAME STREET

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 1/17-1/23

2012-01-18T04:41:00.000-08:00

Fareway Deals Week of 1/17-1/23

2012-01-18T04:13:00.000-08:00

Start Saving Now for Vacation

2012-01-16T23:59:00.001-08:00

It's a good idea to start planning ahead for vacations. My husband and I have been discussing lately what we want to do this summer for our family vacation. Now is the time to budget and start saving for those upcoming trips.

First, come up with a dollar amount that you think you will need for your vacation. Then you can take that number divided by the number of months you have left until your vacation. Each month put that amount of money away either in a seperate bank account or in your savings. For example, we think we will be able to take a nice vacation for around $2,000. We are planning to go sometime in July. If we start saving now then we will have to put away about $167 each paycheck (every 2 weeks) from now until July.

Taking a little out of each paycheck for the next 6 months is a lot easier than coming up with a large lump sum all at once. We can transfer the money over to our savings account where it can sit until we are ready to use it in July.

You can do this for any big expense you have coming up. This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 52 - Let's Celebrate!

2012-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the 52nd week of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. To celebrate our 1 year anniversary of the Frugal Tuesday Tip I am hosting a giveaway! I want to thank all of you who join us each week and read and/or link up your frugal tips. I truly enjoy reading all tips and ideas and I have learned so much over this last year.

To show my appreciation I am hosting a giveaway. 2 readers will win a copy of my Grocery Rules Ebook. To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite frugal tip was over the last year.

The giveaway ends Monday January 23 at midnight. 2 winners will be chosen Tuesday January 24. Good luck and thanks again for supporting the Frugal Tuesday Tip.

Some of the other hostesses are having a giveaway as well. Visit Julie over at Juliecache.com for her coupon giveaway and Julia at Confessions of a Frugal Mind for her magazine subscription giveaway!

If this is the first time your visiting the Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Julia S. at Confessions of a Frugal Mind
Kimberely at Frugal Playground
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-16T04:34:00.001-08:00

We are starting our third week of the 31 Days of Nothing Challenge. Here is what is on our dinner menu for the week.

Monday...Spaghetti, lettuce salad and mandarin oranges.
Tuesday...Meatloaf, corn, fruit.
Wednesday...Homemade pizza and pears.
Thursday...Fried fish (didn't have this last week), broccoli, blueberry muffins and peaches.
Friday...Oven baked chicken, green beans, dinner rolls and pineapple.

31 Days of Nothing - Week 2

2012-01-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

We are 13 days into the 31 Days of Nothing Challenge. All is going well on our end.

I went to the grocery store on Saturday the 7th and got this for $15.93.I then went yesterday the 12th and got this for $20.95. I was a little bummed my total was so high. It doesn't seem like much for $20. For the week I spent $36.88. My goal is to stay under $100 for the month. I am sitting at $42.03 right now.

My husband filled up his jeep with gas for a total of $54.36. Other things we spent money on this week were...

2 prescriptions $15.56
Eye exam and new frames for the hubby $100
Paid off my Kohl's credit card from Christmas shopping $153.89
Paid the garbage bill and a couple random medical bills

No unnecessary money went out this week. I am so proud of my husband for not buying any pop or snacks or lunch for that matter at work. This is huge for him and he is doing great. We have cooked and eaten at home for all our meals. My pantry and freezer are still very well stocked. I think I had put up way more food than I thought.

I hardly went anywhere this week so my gas tank is almost full from when I filled up on Sunday. My oldest son is needing some new shoes but said he thought he could get by for a few more weeks. We do have some gift cards that we could use but the goal is to stay out of the stores so I am going to hold onto them. I am a little tempted because I just got a Kohl's coupon for 30% off in the mail. I feel like I should get the shoes now since we have the coupon but for now I am going to hold off. These are the things that tempt you into the store to spend money!

The family has done relatively well turning lights, radios and TVs off when leaving the room. The weather was decent earlier in the week so I even hung a couple loads of laundry outside.

How are you doing? Are you feeling the need to shop? Leave a comment or link up your blog post below. I look forward to hearing how your week went.

Beautiful Days and Little Surprises

2012-01-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

We are finally getting some winter weather rolling into our region. Yesterday was a beautiful day with highs in the 50's. I took my daughter outside for an afternoon walk and to let our birds out to roam. My daughter loves the hens. She is totally fascinated with them. My Buffs are the friendliest of all the birds. They are my favorite. I held one of them while Em petted and inspected her beak and comb.
On our walk we discovered a treasure in the bare flower bed. Can you see it?
Here it is a little closer. I rarely find eggs anywhere but in the nesting boxes. Once in a while I'll find one on the floor in the chicken house or run. A couple times I have found an egg right outside on the ground next to the chicken house. This is the first time I have found an egg in a strange place. It was a fun little surprise!

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday at Spain in Iowa.

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 1/10-1/16

2012-01-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome Grocery Gathering readers! Here is a list of the deals that I see at Hy-Vee for this week. I use central Iowas ad when making this list. My store takes both printable coupons and manufacturer coupons from the paper. Please check your local ad to confirm these deals in your area.

Need help with my lingo? You can read this post to help you out. Just starting out with coupons? Order my Grocery Rules ebook and learn all about coupons, meal planning and other money saving tips. It is located on the right side bar.

You can print additional coupons to go along with these match-ups at Smartsource.com and Coupons.com.

Slow week for deals. Let me know if you see something I missed.

13 Hour Sale Friday January 13, 8am -9pm
Jack's Pizza $1.88 limit 5
Banquet Frozen Meals $.59 limit 12
Ragu Pasta Sauce $.99 limit 3
Hy-Vee Sliced Bacon $2.50 limit 2
Hy-Vee Cottage Cheese 24 oz $1.48
Wonder Classic or Wheat Bread $.99 limit 2

Meat Sack Sale Saturday and Sunday January 14 and 15 Only
-All meat items you can fit into a sack get 15% off. Limit 1 sack per person.

Grocery
Sun Chips $1.88
Ronzoni Healthy Harvest or Garden Delight Pasta $.99 *stock up price for this type of pasta

Campbell's Chunky Soup 4/$5 or $1.25 each
- 1.00/4 (1/8 SS)
= $1.00 each when you buy 4

Kellogg's Cereal $2.50
- $1.00/3 (1/8 RP)
= about $2.27 each when you buy 3

Hershey's Valentine Kisses $3.69
- $1/2 (1/8 SS) stack with
B2G1 Free Hy-Vee in ad coupon
= about $2.12 each when you buy 3

*$3 off your shopping order when you buy any 10 General Mills Items*
(Hy-Vee in ad coupon)
This is a Hy-Vee coupon so there are tons of manufacturer coupons to stack with this to make for some good deals. Big G, Progresso, Chex Mix, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, Totinos and Green Giant products are all included. Look in your General Mills insert that came out last Sunday to find coupons to pair up.

Here is a one scenario...
Progresso Soup 3/$4 or $1.33 each
- $1/4 (1/8 GM)
Buy 10 cans use 2 manufacturer coupons and factor in the $3 it will be like getting the soup for $.78 a can

Meat
Delightful Farms Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast 3lbs $4.99

Produce
Dole Salad Kits $.99
Blackberries 6 oz $1.88
Sweet Grape Tomatoes 1 pint $1.50

Beverage
Old Orchard Apple Juice $1.77

Non-Food
Lysol Toilet Cleaner or Wipes $1.99
- $1.00/2 (1/1 SS)
= $1.49 each when you buy 2

Kleenex Tissues $.77
- $.50/3 (1/1 SS)
= 3/$1.81 or about $.60 each

Let me know if you see something I missed. This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering.

Fareway Deals Week of 1/10-1/16

2012-01-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

Welcome Grocery Gathering readers! Here is a list of current deals that I see at Fareway. I use central Iowas ad when making this list. My store takes printable coupons as well as manufacturer coupons from the paper. Please check your local ad to confirm these deals in your area. I know they run different ads in different locations.

Need help with my lingo? You can read this post to help you out. Just starting out with coupons? Order my Grocery Rules ebook and learn all about coupons, meal planning and other money saving tips. It is located on the right side bar.

You can print additional coupons to go along with these match-ups at Smartsource.com and Coupons.com.

1 Day Sale Friday January 13th Only
Fareway White Bread $.79
24 Pack Water $1.99
Fareway Potato Chips 8 oz $.79
Fareway Canned Peaches, Pears or Fruit Cocktail 15oz $.79
Tombstone Pizza $1.97
93% Ground Beef $2.79 lb sold in 10 lb tubes (in ad coupon)

Grocery
Quaker Instant Oatmeal 11-15 oz Box $2.50
Fareway Pancake Mix or Syrup $1.50

Hamburger, Tuna or Chicken Helper 4/$5 or $1.25 each
- $1.00/5 (1/8 GM)
= $1.05 each when you buy 5 (Buy 10, use 2 coupons and the Fareway $4 off coupon = $.65 each)

*$4 off your shopping order when you buy any 10 General Mills Items*
(in ad coupon)
This is a Fareway coupon so there are tons of manufacturer coupons to stack with this to make for some good deals. Big G, Progresso, Chex Mix, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, Tostinos and Green Giant products are all included. Look in your General Mills insert that came out last Sunday to find coupons to pair up.

There are lots of scenarios.

Here is a one scenario...
Progresso Soup 3/$4 or $1.33 each (price match to Hy-Vee)
- $1/4 (1/8 GM)
Buy 10 cans use 2 manufacturer coupons and -$4 Fareway in ad coupon it will be like getting the soup for $.73 a can

If you price match to Hy-Vee's ad (some Fareway's automatically do this) and have multiple coupons you should be able to get...
Hamburger Helper as low as $.65/each
Pillsbury Grands as low as $.78/each
Nature Valley Granola Bars as low as $1.73/each
Green Giant Boxed Veggies as low as $.75/each

Meat
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast $1.69 lb *stock up price
Whole Boneless Pork Loins $1.99 lb average 10 lbs (in ad coupon)

Produce
Dole Salad Blends $1.49 (price match to Hy-Vee $.99)
Navel Oranges 4lbs $2.49
Colored Mixed Peppers 4 pk $2.99
White Onions $.69 lb
Texas Grapefruit $.44 each
Fuji Apples $.88 lb
Clementines 5lbs $4.99

Dairy
Fareway Shredded Cheese 16 oz $1.99
Anderson Erickson Yogurt $.40 each
Large Eggs $.99

Trix or GoGurt $2.00
- $.75/2 (1/5 GM)
= $3.25 for 2

Frozen
Jack's Frozen Pizza $2.50

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel $2.00
- $.50/2 (1/8 GM)
= $1.75 each when you buy 2

Beverage
Old Orchard Juice 64 oz 3/$5 or $1.67 each

Non-Food
Purex Laundry Soap $1.99 (in ad coupon)

This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering.

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 51

2012-01-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Frugal Tuesday Tip! I look forward to seeing what you all have to share this week. Next week we celebrate our 1 year anniversary of the Frugal Tuesday Tip and we will be having some giveaways. Make sure you join us so you don't miss out.

New here? The Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Julia S. at Confessions of a Frugal Mind
Kimberely at Frugal Playground
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

Ways to Earn a Few Bucks

2012-01-09T19:35:00.001-08:00

image credit

It's always nice to earn a little extra money. Last week I earned $284. It didn't take a lot of time or effort. Here are some easy ways to earn a few bucks.

Cash in that gold. Gold prices are high right now. Go through those jewelry boxes and cash in what you aren't wearing. Don't mail it in to those places you see advertised on TV. Visit your local jewelers and get a few quotes on what they are willing to give you. If you are local, visit Marcia's Jewelry on the east side of Des Moines. My mother owns that store and my brother and her will take good care of you!

Sell something. You can advertise your items for free on Craigslist. Another option may be community swaps. Local Facebook community swaps are popping up all over the place. It makes it easy to sell your unwanted items.

Cash in cans and bottles. Every couple weeks I make a trip to the redemption center. I take the cans and bottles in from my house as well as both my parents and sometimes my brother. I figured if we pay for the deposit when we buy them we might as well get that money back.

How do you earn extra money? This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

We are in the second week of our 31 Days of Nothing Challenge. We ate all our meals at home last week. Here is what is on this weeks menu. I am hoping to come up with some new ideas in the next couple weeks as long as all the ingredients are already in the pantry I feel like we have the same thing over and over again. May have to break out some of the old cookbooks.

Monday...Lasagna from the freezer, garlic bread sticks, salad.
Tuesday...Tacos, pineapple.
Wednesday...Roast, potatoes and carrots in the crock pot and pears.
Thursday...Chicken Breast, rice, broccoli and peaches.
Friday...Fish fry, corn, muffins and fruit.

To see what others are having this week head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Getting Rid of Stuff

2012-01-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

I am feeling the urge to simplify our lives at home. Another goal for the new year. There are many ways I can do this I know. The first thing I want to do is declutter the house and get rid of unwanted and unneeded items.

Stuff is just that, stuff. It clutters our house, our thoughts our lives. For me, having less is better. I don't feel as stressed or overwhelmed when I don't have things laying all over the house. Nothing makes me (or my hubby) more frustrated than looking for something and having to wade through piles of stuff just to find what I am looking for. I think I will feel more content having less things.

My plan is to start with one room and go through it's entire contents. I started this last Friday in the kitchen. I went through every cupboard and drawer and cleaned, organized and purged any items that we haven't been using. I was able to throw one bag of trash out and have another bag and a half to donate.

I am happy to get going on this project. I feel good about starting fresh, purging items that we no longer use or need. Cleaning and organizing things so that our life can be that much simpler.

31 Days of Nothing - Week 1

2012-01-06T04:26:00.000-08:00

We are on Day 6 of our 31 Days of Nothing. This first week has gone pretty easy. I felt no temptation or need to go to the stores or spend any money. I did go to the grocery store on Wednesday and spent $5.15 on a gallon of milk and 2 heads of lettuce. I ran out of bread so I made 2 loaves of homemade bread instead of buying any. (I will be posting my bread recipe later next week.) I budgeted $25 for the week so I am well under.

I tried not to leave the house as much this week. Wednesday I had to go into town for an appointment so I did my other errands at the same time. This helped me save on gas.

Unfortunatly alot of money was spent this week on medical expenses. That is something I can't really control. We had to take my daughter to the emergency room early in the week because she was running a fever of 105 and vomiting. She required an IV and antibiotics. She is doing better now. We had yearly eye exams for myself and 2 older children. We had to pay our co-pays for the exams. I also had to pick up some medication for my son. Since it is a new year, our deductibles start over. This means paying full price for prescriptions until the deductible is met.

We started composting all our table scraps again. I am using a 5 gallon bucket set outside our back door to store the scraps in. Every couple days I will have one of the boys empty it into the compost pile in the backyard.

I still need to call and see if we can get another recycle container. Our recycle is only picked up every 2 weeks and we fill it almost weekly. That is on my list of things to do.

There was lots of reminders this week for turning lights off. Hopefully after another week of nagging it will become habit. The kids have done well limiting their water usage. They even took quick showers.

Over all I am happy with how the week went. I am excited to hear about your first week. Leave a comment or link up your blog post below. We can all support and benefit from each other.

Locally Grown Pork

2012-01-05T04:49:00.000-08:00

This is what a 222 lb (carcass weight) Berkshire hog looks like. I am super excited to have a freezer full of locally grown meat! This will be especially helpful as we have started our 31 Days of Nothing Challenge. We ordered a whole hog from a local farmer early in the summer. We just had it delivered at the end of November.

Here is a list of the items we got.

24 lbs of bacon
40 lbs of sausage, breakfast, hot and mild
48 1" cut porkchops
64 brat patties
50 tenderloins
4 roasts at 4 lbs each
1 whole picnic roast to smoke ourselves

Buy purchasing our hog from a local farmer, we can feel comfortable with what we are eating and what we are feeding our children. It's important to get to know your farmer. Make sure they are using sustainable methods. These hogs were grown outside in the sun, ate home mixed foods and were not given any growth hormones or antibiotics.

Here is the breakdown of our cost. We pay the farmer $1.25 per hanging weight of the hog. We then have to pay the locker fee. The locker charges different fees depending on how you would like your meat. For instance, tenderizing runs $.15 lb, grinding meat runs $.20 lb, making patties runs $.40 lb. There are also charges for curing and smoking if you desire that.

The total price for our meat was $458.65. This includes all the locker fees. This averages out to be about $2.66 per lb. I am averaging that number because we are charged for the actual carcass weight of the animal and not the butchered weight.

Whether your buying a half or a whole hog there is going to be a larger up front cost. If you plan this purchase into your budget it won't be such a big deal. We know each year we will be paying for a hog in November, so we work that number into our budget at the beginning of the year.

If you are curious about buying from local farmers and don't know where to start localharvest.org is a great resource and can lead you in the right direction.

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday at Spain in Iowa.

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 1/3-1/9

2012-01-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Fareway Deals Week of 1/3-1/9

2012-01-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 50

2012-01-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Frugal Tuesday Tip! I look forward to seeing what you all have to share this week. We will be having some giveaways in the future to celebrate our 1 year of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. Make sure you join us each week so you don't miss out.

New here? The Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Julia S. at Confessions of a Frugal Mind
Kimberely at Frugal Playground
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-01T20:22:00.001-08:00

Here is what we have planned for meals this week. We are kicking off our 31 Days of Nothing so that means for the next 31 days I will be making dinner at home. No going out!

Monday...Japanese chicken salad and mandarin oranges.
Tuesday...Buttermilk pancakes, eggs and apples.
Wednesday...Corn dogs, green beans and fruit.
Thursday...Panera Cream Cheese Potato Soup, homemade dinner rolls.
Friday...Homemade personal pan pizzas and pears.

To see what others are having this week head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

New Month, New Printable Coupons

2012-01-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

The first of the month brings lots of new printable coupons. Here are just a few released from Coupons.com. Check out the links below and get printing before they are gone!

$0.50 off 2 Betty Crocker Fruit snacks

$0. 50 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal

$0.80 off 4 Hamburger, Tuna or Chicken Helper

$1.00 off 2 boxes Cheerios cereal

$0.40 off SIX CU! PS Yoplait Yogurt

Red Plum also released some new coupons. Here are just a few.

$1.00 OFF any ONE (1) all® Laundry Detergent (28 Load or Larger)

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31 Days of Nothing Kick Off - Come Link Up!

2012-01-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today is day one of our 31 days of nothing challenge for the month of January. I am totally committed to staying out of the stores, spending no money, as well as being more earth friendly and green.

If you want to read my families goals for this challenge you can read about it here. I will be updating a few times a week on how we are doing. I am excited to host a link up as well each Friday for the entire month. If you are wanting to join in on this challenge feel free! You can make up your own rules for this challenge. We can all benefit from each other. Please link up your blog post below telling us about your rules and goals for this challenge. This way we can all follow you on your journey. Then continue to come back each Friday and update us on how you are doing.

Please link back to this post so others can follow along. Feel free to post the following button.

Good luck!

2012 Goals

2012-01-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I love the new year. A fresh start, a new beginning, time to pause and reflect on the previous year and think about whats yet to come. I have spent a lot of time thinking about my goals for 2012. Things I would like to work on or improve.

It's kinda cliche but here are my 2012 New Years goals, resolutions, inspirations, what ever you want to call them.

Personal
*Drink more water.
*Exercise 3 times per week. It may be nothing too exciting, just a walk around a park would be nice.
*Cut back on coffee. This isn't something I necessarily want to do but I figured if I drink more water maybe my coffee intake will become less. Right now, I drink way.too.much.coffee.
*Read more. I have some awesome magazines and books begging to be read but finding "me time" is difficult.
*Continue to have a large garden and put up enough produce to feed my family for the non-gardening months.
*Keep growing my blog. When I started this blog a couple years ago I never dreamed it would grow the way it did. I LOVE being a resource for helping people and I love the ideas I have gotten and online friendships I have made. I would love to make it to 500 subscribers. I just really like that number! Making a little more money from blogging would be nice too, but honestly it's really not about the money. I truly enjoy blogging.

Ok. Moving on.

Financial
*Successfully complete our 31 Days of Nothing Challenge. Would love to have a chunk of money saved up to go towards our medical bills that we accumulated in 2011.
*To go along with the above...pay off all our medical bills. Right now we owe almost $2000. And unfortunately, since it is the new year, our deductibles will start over.
*Start tracking coupon savings each month. I have always been curious how much money I am saving with coupons. I may do this for a few months just to get an idea.
*Stay on track with our budget and go back to using the envelope system. This system really works for me and I don't spend near as much money when I am using cash instead of swiping my debit card.
*Increase our savings account by $5000. This may be difficult, but if we work really hard I think we can do it.

Family
*Read more books together. All my kids love to read and this would be a good thing to do
as a family.
*Spend more one on one time with my husband. With the business of life, sometimes we don't get a chance to really connect just the two of us.
*Establish a good morning routine with the two youngest children. Once the 3 older kids are off to school sometimes I feel lost with what to do with my little ones that are still at home. I want to get some sort of schedule in place.
*In general just spend more time with my kids and husband. I am always so busy and feel like there is so much to get done in the day that I need to just sit back and truly enjoy life.

Greener, Healthier Living
While my family has made huge leaps this last couple years in being more earth friendly there is always room for improvement. I want to step up a few things this year.
*Step up the composting and actually move it around so that is composts!
*Continue to recycle. I need to get a larger recycle bin for our kitchen.
*Completely switch over all cleaning products to homemade. Right now about 80% is made by myself.
*Buy less packaged and processed foods. Cook more from scratch.
*Continue to garden, shop local, attend produce auctions and support our local farmers.

Well I think that is it! Doesn't seem so bad huh? I look forward to 2012 and I hope you continue to follow me and my family on our journey.

31 Days of Nothing Challenge

2011-12-29T09:26:00.000-08:00

My family and I are kicking off the new year with a 31 days of nothing challenge. This will be our 4th year doing this type of challenge. You can read all about our first year here. This was what really kicked off our frugal lifestyle and made me change the way we live. You can also read about lasts years adventure here.

This 31 days of nothing isn't just about not spending any money. It's also about being more aware of how we are living. Not being wasteful by leaving lights on or keeping the water running. Being more earth friendly by composting, recycling and making our own cleaners.

My family and I have sat down and planned out some rules. Here are the rules we have set for our family for the month of January.

1. The ultimate goal is to spend NO money except for necessities. For my family I consider necessities to be gas for work and appointments, monthly prescription medications, groceries (although very minimal, more on this later) and our basic bills and utilities. Necessities may mean something different for your family.

2. There will be no consumerism. My hope is to stay out of the stores completely. No new clothes, books, or any other impulse buys. No shopping the deals!

3. Groceries. I am allowing $25 per week for grocery shopping or $100 per month. I really just want to stick with eating from the pantry and freezers as much as possible. We will need milk for the baby, as well as fresh produce so I am setting money aside for those things. We should be good on most other items because our freezers and pantry are very full. I usually budget $500 for the month.

4. Zero money spent on entertainment. No eating out, we will cook from scratch and eat at home each day. No money spent on movies or impromptu ice cream cones. We usually budget $150 each month for entertainment.

5. Allowance. Everyone is giving up their allowance for the month. There will be no money in our pockets tempting us to spend it.

6. My gas budget is up in the air right now. I need to actually keep track of what we are spending so I can get a more accurate number. For this month though, I want to just try and stay home as much as possible. Combine our errands so that we aren't making multiple trips each week.

7. Get back composting, recycling, and shutting off. Our compost bin has been missing so scraps have been being tossed in the trash which makes me crazy. We are great at recycling but the bins need to be cleaned up. My family has gotten extremely lazy about shutting off lights and unplugging items when not in use. This is going to be enforced more.

8. Cutting back on water usage. Our water bill has done nothing but climb. We use alot of water. Mainly because of long showers and children playing in the sinks. Showers will be timed and sink time monitored to make sure we aren't being wasteful.

I will add to this list if I think of anything else.

So what do you think? Want to join me on this 31 days of nothing challenge? You can make up your own set of rules for your family. You can join for 1, 2, 3 weeks or the entire month. It is a great way to kick off your savings or even pay off some of that Christmas debt.

I will be hosting a weekly linky each Friday. I will be giving my weekly report and will post a linky here for anyone who wants to join in and link up their blog. I only ask that you make sure you link back to Learning the Frugal Life or display this great little button. Just copy the html code and add it to your post. Don't have a blog and still want to join? Leave a comment letting us know how your family is doing.

I am really looking forward to this challenge. I encourage you to join in with me. It could really open your eyes to how you spend your money. It is a great way to start living more frugally and learning to be content with what you have. Who knows, it may change your way of living forever.

Weely Grocery Match-Ups

2011-12-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

There will be no grocery match-ups this week. Sorry. My husband and I have been sick since Christmas so we are just now getting out of town to visit family for the holidays. I will have the ads up next week. Hope everyone enjoys the holiday.

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 49

2011-12-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, 49 weeks! Thank you so much for joining us this week. We will be having some giveaways in the future to celebrate our 1 year of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. Make sure you join us each week so you don't miss out.

New here? The Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Julia S. at Confessions of a Frugal Mind
Kimberely at Frugal Playground
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

2011-12-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! I will be spending the next few days enjoying time with my family. Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Chicken Update

2011-12-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

We have had some unseasonable warm weather for December. The other day the temps were near 50 so I took advantage of that and went out and cleaned out the chicken house. The girls now have fresh straw in the house, nesting boxes and run. They were so excited. I even had one immediately go in and make herself comfy in the box. I am glad to have that project crossed off the list. Hopefully they will be good to go now until Spring. I usually clean out the house fully every few months, and every couple weeks I toss some new straw in on top of the old. Weekly the straw gets fluffed up with a pitch fork and any large clumps get removed. There really isn't that much maintenance.

The girls must be really happy because they have been laying like crazy. I added a heat lamp a few weeks ago and since then they have really picked up the egg production. I thought using a red bulb wouldn't make that much of a difference but it really has. They went from laying 2-4 eggs a day to laying 6-8 eggs a day.

As long as there is no snow on the ground the girls have been roaming freely during the days.This is nice because when they can get out and graze they eat less grain. Of course every time they see me or the kids outside they run up to us looking for a snack. They know we are usually good for some sort of treat.

Hy-Vee Deals Week of 12/20-12/26

2011-12-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Fareway Deals Week of 12/20-12/24

2011-12-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

Frugal Tuesday Tip Week 48

2011-12-19T20:28:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much for joining us this week. We will be having some giveaways in the future to celebrate our 1 year of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. Make sure you join us each week so you don't miss out.

New here? The Frugal Tuesday Tip is a linky blog hop, dedicated to encouraging the frugal lifestyle. It is hosted by:

Julia at Juliecache.com
Julia S. at Confessions of a Frugal Mind
Kimberely at Frugal Playground
and me!

Anyone with a frugal tip can share. Just post a frugal tip on your own blog, then come here to add your post (the permalink) with the linky tool. Your post will appear on all of our blogs.

Please use your permalink, which is the URL to your post not your home page. If you don't know what a permalink is you'll find instructions here. Posts that link to their home page will be deleted.

You can also share some internet love with our Frugal Tuesday Tip button. Just copy and paste the code below the button and add the button anywhere in your post.

**If you are going to link up please add a line somewhere in your blog post stating that this is part of the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We would love to spread the word and get more people involved.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-12-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is the week of Christmas! We have a busy week planned as usual. Wednesday is the last day of school and then all the kids are home for 2 1/2 weeks. We will really be going through the food then! I have a pretty easy meal plan for the week.

Monday...Brat burgers, peas, lettuce salad, and pineapple.
Tuesday...Potato soup, homemade dinner rolls, apples.
Wednesday...Corn dogs, green beans and fruit.
Thursday...Spaghetti, lettuce salad and garlic bread sticks.
Friday...Leftovers.
Saturday Christmas Eve Dinner...We always have a fancy Christmas eve dinner. It is the only time of the year we break out all the fancy china and tablecloths and eat by candle light. I am not 100 % on our menu for that evening as I have to get all the kids input. I will post what we decide later!

To see what others are having this week, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Coupon Winner

2011-12-16T14:13:00.001-08:00

According to Random.org the winner of the coupon giveaway is...

#4 Tracy Gravitt

Congratulations Tracy! Please email me your information so that I can get your coupons in the mail.

Thanks to everyone who entered. There will be more giveaways coming up in the weeks ahead.