Award

My pal over at The Quest to be Financially Abundant listed my wee little blog in her list of 10 blogs that she loves. Thanks P! :)

I thought I would join along as it has felt like ages since I've posted. (No need to worry, just life getting busy on us.) So without any further ado, here is me playing along, for the fun of it.



10 Blogs that I love:

1. Gail Vaz-Oxlade. Just like I can't imagine starting my morning without a cuppa, I also can't imagine starting a day without a daily dose of Gail wisdom.
2. My Half Dozen Daily is the second blog I read daily. She's a SAHM who homeschools, and is currently trying to sell a chameleon so her teenaged daughter will come home, lol!
3. Over at When I get to Where I am Going , J udy is an avid knitter, who attends school, is paying off her debt, all while running a household of adult and teenaged kids, a husband, and her mother. Update: Judy has taken down her blog. I'll miss her posts. :(
4. Saving for Travel or SFT for short, keeps us up to date on her travel around the globe (I'm so jealous!) and is our gracious host for The Sealed Pot Challenge 2013. She hosts weekly updates on this for those who are interested.
5. Sharon at MidLifeMomMusings just recently moved to her own domain and Wordpress after deciding to commit to blogging. She always has something good to share.
6. The Warm Hands Network is a charity knitting blog that chronicles the yearly shipments of knitted good to some needy children right here in Canada. Not only do they take knitted items from a specific list, they also accept Canadian Tire money toward the purchase of boots for folks who live in an area where the temp can drop to -40 C (that's the same as -40 F).
7. $lay the Monster  is B-Kat's blog. She paid off her $148,000 mortgage  in ten years. Nowadays, she works diligently to keep out of the clutches of the Debt-Monster.
8. Jolie writes Shaking the Money Tree, and I love reading about her life.
9. I love to read alottastitches where Linda crochets one child sized blanket per week for children entering foster care. That on top of the knitting, sewing and other crochet projects she has going.
10. Sass writes about her life with Princess Penelope (her daughter) and her two pups, Thing 1 and Thing 2 over at Getting Us There. I love her pictures of her shopping trips.

7 Things about me:

1. I love to observe people. By nature, I'm kind of quiet, a little bit shy, and would much rather sit and watch people at a party or gathering than getting involved in conversations.
2. I am a member of the Bear Clan of the Oneida First Nation people. To me, this means that I have a strong connection to family (by birth or by choice) and will do most anything I can for them. It also makes me want to sleep a lot in the winter time.
3. My self-esteem has bipolar disorder, I think. I either have all the confidence in the world in my strengths and abilities, or I have the worst self-esteem in the world. Depends on the day, I guess.
4. I do have a strong personality with some very strong opinions on things. I find that people either really, really like me or they absolutely hate me. I have learned to live with this and not to worry about those who don't like me.
5. I'm learning a lot about myself through knitting. I used to think knitting was all about the end result, the item I made, but it's become more about me just doing the knitting and what occurs in my head while I'm doing so.
6. Some of my favourite music is fairly heavy. Like heavy metal heavy. I don't seem the type at all, lol.
7. I want to get a dog in the worst way, but until we are in an actual house and not an apartment, I won't do it. It wouldn't be fair to the dog.

Rules if you want to play.

1. post awards on blog
2. thank person that nominated you, that would be me, but your blog is thanks enough!
3. List 10 blogs you love
4. list 7 things about you
5. List these rules
6. tell people you nominated by posting on their blog

Putting the Plan Into Action

Now that I've had some time to internalise everything that has happened last week, I'm ready to start putting our Action Plan into place. Hubby and I have talked and talked about what we can do to keep things on an even keel around here until I find somthing else to bring in an income. The way I figure it, we will have a reduced income until February 28th, and then after that, who knows? There is so much that is unknown and to tell you the truth, I'm a little bit scared. But now is the time to really prioritise what is important to us and what is just 'nice to have'. Even when we had gobs and gobs of debt, I wasn't as willing to let go of things as I am now. Knowing that there is *some* money in the bank to see us through is certainly helping me to sleep at night.

Here's a list of actions I'll be taking to reduce our expenditures:

• go to the bank and temporarily stop RRSP, RESP and House downpayment contributions.
• calling cellphone provider and reducing plans to something more affordable.
• make a freezer and cupboard inventory; we need to eat what we have to reduce grocery costs.
• inventory items that can be sold to list on Kijijii and other sites.
• list items on Kijijii; have already started with two.

As for looking for other work, I have an appointment on Wednesday to get some help from an employment counsellor. Also, I had an unexpected tip on a possible job lead kind of within my field, but not quite. However, I will be in contact with them to see if they are interested in hiring me. Fingers crossed.

I'll be going over my invoicing tomorrow to see how much money that I am owed from various companies, as well as making sure that I pay any outstanding invoices from my business. I'd like to get as close to a clean slate as I can, before we start feeling the pinch of living on one income.

Unit Pricing

When you are shopping for the best deals, do you use unit pricing as part of your expense reducing strategy? If not, maybe you should consider it. This strategy alone could save you tons of cash.

What is unit pricing?
When you purchase a case of individual drinks, like a case of pop, or a multi-pack of dry goods, like six boxes of facial tissues, the entire package is a certain price. The cost of one individual can, bottle or tissue would be the unit price.

If a case of 12 boxes of macaroni & cheese is $6.88, the unit price would be ($6.88 / 12 =) $0.573 each. If you are paying $1.25 per single box, you could potentially save $8.12 ( or $0.68 per box).

This type of price comparison is more important when you have two like products but different packaging standards. An example of this would be bottled water. If you want to compare product A which sells water in a case of 15 X 500mL bottles for $0.88 and product B which sells water in a case of 24 (with a bonus of 4 bottles for a total of 28) X 500mL bottles at $2.44.

An individual bottle of Product A would be $0.88 / 15 = $0.058 per 500 mL.

An individual bottle of Product B would be $2.44 / 28 = $0.087 per 500 mL.

Where this really becomes important is when you have coupons. Lets say you had a coupon for Product B, for $1 off the purchase of a case of 24. Firstly, the coupon qualifies for the purchase because the additional four bottles are a bonus from the manufacturer, if they typically do not sell the product in packaging of 28. You would then be purchasing 28 X 500mL bottles for $0.051 each.

Here's the math:
$2.44 - $1 Manufacturer coupon = $1.44 / 28 = $0.051 per 500mL bottle.

When shopping for items that you buy regularly, you should be inputting the Unit Price into your Price Book (you do have a Price Book, don't you) so that you can compare at a glance what seems like a good deal while you're at the store. If the unit price isn't below or near your set point for cost, you know that it's not as good a deal as it is advertised to be.

Over time, using this tool can really help you to reduce your spending. Just remember to actually 'save' your savings. Put the money you don't spend in your savings account, or RRSP where it can actually do some good, instead of just spending that money on something else.

Frugal Cooking

Hubby came home from work today, not feeling so well. I think it may be the dreaded flu that's going around and kicking everyone in the butt! I don't really want to spend a whole lot of money these days (the CRA thing has got me terrified) so I thought I should be a good girl, and make something yummy for dinner.

Enter Club House Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup Starter. I have several of these in the cupboard that I bought on sale last month. I wish I could upload a picture of the package, or even find one online to show you, but alas, I cannot. Try googling it. It comes in a pretty blue package.

I had some leftover chicken breast in the fridge, so I chopped that up. I had to purchase some veggies for the soup, but I did manage to snag 2 celery bunches (heads? stalks? ribs? WTH is the correct terminology anyway?) for 99 cents on the reduced rack, and a package of baby carrots for another 99 cents. I also had to buy egg noodles which was on sale for $1.47. Between the celery, carrots and noodles, I should be able to get another 3 or 4 batches of soup out of what I have. :) I'll be chopping the remaining veg, cooked chicken thighs (I already had theses in the fridge) and putting one cup of each into freezer bags, so when I want to make more, I can just dump it, with the seasoning package and water,  into the crock pot and I'm set for the day.

Now, let's see if I'm any good at math:

~ package of chicken thighs (on sale) : $ 4.07
~ celery: $ 0.99
~ baby carrots: $ 0.99
~ onions (on hand)
~ egg noodles: $ 1.47
~ seasoning package: $ 1.25 each, so $ 3.75

$11.27 for three batches of Crock pot Chicken Noodle soup. Give or take. I had onions already and one cooked chicken breast, so add another $3 onto the total. About $15 for several meals.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

They also have a Vegetable Beef Soup Starter for the crock pot that I will be trying out sometime this month. I'd love to try lots of different kinds of recipes for my crock, but I live with some really picky eaters. I am on the hunt for good crock pot meal recipes, so if you have a favourite, please share with me.

Now if I could only find the Crock pot cooking liners in any store around here. Maybe I could get a friend from the US to send me a pack?

My Thrift Store Deals

I probably should have never set foot into the Talize store the other day. I had worked a very long day, and I rationalised it by saying to myself that I still needed to get some Christmas shopping done. I was only going in to look for 2 wicker baskets, or something similar, to put in all the odds 'n' ends that I have for two young men on my gift list.

Sigh. I should know better.

However, I must pat myself on the back for not going totally crazy and spending a couple of hundred dollars, which would be oh so easy for me to do there.

I ended up buying some old three-ring binder type photo albums with dozens of new/unused photo pages in them. These holders are perfect gifties for my couponing family and friends.

I found an 80's Artificial Tree Stand, brand new, still in the package, never used, for a mere $5.99. My MIL has been looking for one of these since the The Tree Incident so I was ever so happy to be able to find one for her that should last at least 20 more years.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Old Navy, and spied a wool coat that I wanted. I picked out my size , in black of course, but could not justify spending $70 plus tax on a thin winter coat. It just didn't seem right. Well, my trip to Talize had me finding a Wool/Cashmere blend coat that fits like a glove. The sleeves are the right length for my little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms. It is the length that I wanted, without too much bulk. So I look at the price tag to see if I can justify buying it. $19.99. The perfect price too!

Last, but not least, I walked down the aisle where the yarn is kept. I know, I know. I never should have went back there, as I made a promise to Hubby to not bring any more yarn into the house. It's not like I've used up all the stuff that I already have or anything. :(

 

See that lonely single knitting needle? I looked everywhere for its twin, with no luck. :( 

Okay. See that brightly coloured large ball of multi-colours on the near right hand side? That size of yarn ball at Mall-Mart sell for $12. See the cotton yarn in the bag on the left? They sell those at Mall-Mart for $14. To purchase all this from a retailer would cost about $90.

 

I got all of this beautiful yarn for a grand total of $8!

 

 

I envision making socks out of the bright multi-coloured yarn, and swiffer dusters out of the cotton, with some dishcloths for the heck of it. The fancy fuzzy yarn will get incorporated into one of my Inchworm pillows, and I'm not too sure about the rest just yet. Probably lots of cowls to donate.

 

I probably should have never set foot into that store in the first place but I have no regrets either. Except how to tell Hubby I'm keeping it all.



My Hands Have Not Been Idle

Cub modeling a 'hat'. It isn't a hat really, but it sure looked like it at the time.

Shortly after our trip to visit with Gail Vaz-Oxlade , she posted about her love for knitting. This is something that we definitely have in common. Gail doesn't use patterns, instead changing up the yarns and needle sizes to create as she goes along.

I, too, am a renegade knitter at heart. I despise following even the simplest pattern. But I will use one until I am understanding how a piece is put together (like the Swiffer cloths) and then recreate it with my own imagination and creativity.

2012 is the year I decided to work through my enormous stash of yarn and crafting supplies. I promised Hubby I would not buy any more yarn until I got rid of what I already have. (This may have been a mistake, but oh well.) I got the idea from Creating A Family Home who is, for various reasons, trying to work down her stash.

The 'hat' that Cub is wearing above, is one of those stash busting projects. The charity I work with, Keeping Kids Warm is often gifted the stashes of family members of the donors. This often includes lots of little balls of leftovers from long ago finished projects. Not wanting these little bits to go to waste, I have gathered bags and bags of them to make something with. Some of it will be for using with plastic canvas. Some bits are so small though, it's difficult to figure out the perfect project for them.

Enter the "Rainbow Snake' idea.

Some time ago, the volunteer knitters at KKW used several balls of yarn in varying colours and textures, knitting in the round, to create a yarn snake that grew several feet long. To complete it, it was stuffed with batting, and sealed on both ends. The flexible finished product called the Rainbow Snake, was then donated to a children's facility where it has been laid upon, jumped on, sat on, twisted into varying configurations and loved fiercely by many a baby and toddler. So much so that the facility has requested another one as it is getting worn from so much love.

I started working on a new snake, when DD2 took a keen interest in what I was making. I explained how it would be stuffed and sewn up as a plaything for some babies. She mentioned that if it was the appropriate size, even a young lady such as herself would like a 'pillow' made in a similar manner. She thought that lots of folks might like to have such a creation as well. My biggest worry was what to call it. A Pillow-something? Rainbow something?

We went to the park during some really nice weather the other day. I was thinking about our family, and all of the great-nieces and great-nephews I have. I've tried to give them all a special nickname from Auntie, and I started thinking about those nicknames. One jumped out at me....Inchworm. That's the special name I have for my great-niece whose name is Alaska. Her and Cub are only a few months apart in age. Inchworm Pillows. They grow inch by inch on my needles, made with only a few inches of yarn at a time. How fitting.

I'll post pics when I have one or two finished. I think the first one should go to DD2 and the second to Inchworm - as thank you for their inspiration.

Are your hands creating anything these days?

Shopping and Dinner

I went shopping yesterday.

I had read all the flyers and made a careful list. I need to stretch every dollar I possibly can right now. I wish the budget wasn't so darn tight but it is what it is.

I got Palmolive Dish soap, 1.1L for $1.73 at Canadian Tire yesterday. I bought 4 of them. I love stocking up on things when I find a great deal. I also picked up some Christmas wrap that was on sale, and a few stocking stuffers there. Who would have thought that CT would have good prices on seasonal candy?

Next stop, No Frills. They are having another one of their $1, $2, $3 sales and some of the deals were hard to pass up. While there, I realized that lean ground beef was on sale as well, so I bought two of the family sized packs. I used one for dinner, and split the other one up for the freezer.

When I got home after picking up the kidlets, I put stuff away, and packed up two reusable grocery bags of foodstuffs for DD1's house. She has recently gone back to work full-time after mat leave, and they are struggling once again. Her BF is having trouble finding and staying employed, so they have opted for him to stay home and look after grandcub while DD1 works to provide for their little family. They have exhausted all of their resources, and are grateful for any help in the next month while they are adjusting to the new schedule.

I wish I could have run to the bank, and taken out money for them to survive, but I can't. I want to fix the problem for them, but I can't do that either. But I realized that having stocked up on all the sales I can, I am able to help them with pantry items that I have. Baby wipes, t.p., soups, jam and bread from the freezer, peanut butter, sugar, cereal, rice mixes, all gleaned from our cupboards. It made me feel better and they were very grateful for the help.

Anyway, for dinner I made homemade burgers, with all the fixings. Mine ended up being a mushroom bacon cheeseburger. With fries, pickles and olives on the side. :) For dinner we had 3 adults, 2 tweenagers (DD2's fave girl cousin of the same age is here for the weekend), 1 toddler, and a 10 month old. All fed and happy on under  $20 worth of groceries bought on sale over time.
I. Love. That.

I am still making (knitting) gifts for my family to reduce costs. This is likely going to be our most frugal holidays ever. But it will be ok. Everyone knows that we are struggling financially, and are not so worried about stuff. We watched "The Grinch That Stole Christmas" after dinner, and it led to a discussion about 'Christmas not coming from a store'. That it was about being together with the ones you love, and who love you. The tweens seemed to 'get' it, and that's all I can hope for.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I was totally inspired by Kristen over at The Frugal Girl with her post on homemade freezer jam.

The last couple of years, as I have been learning to make things from scratch, I have made a few things that were a bit out of the standard for me. Two years ago, I made Blueberry Freezer Jam. It was good, but it wasn't quite as wonderful as I thought it would be. This year I decided to try Strawberry Freezer Jam.

After school today, I headed to the thriving metropolis of Lambeth. Well, just to the west of Lambeth, to Millar Berry Farms to get the kidlets to help me pick some strawberries. I was saddened to learn that the Pick-Your-Own fruit isn't ready yet, but they did have plenty of ripe delicious berries for sale.

I bought two, 3L baskets of 'imperfect' fruit for $3.00 each, and a six pack of pints for $23.00. We also bought fresh asparagus that was cut less than an hour before we showed up, and some rhubarb stalks.

Stopping at the TSC store on the way back to London (the east side of Lambeth), I bought a case of 12, 500mL canning jars, perfect for jam. I also picked up some liquid pectin. Total: $20.00.

I ended up with 9-500mL jars and 4-8 oz. jars of strawberry freezer jam. I also quartered some berries and bagged them for the freezer, and had some leftovers to slice to add to some vanilla ice cream for dessert.

I figure the total cost of making the jams/bags came to about $53.36.
If I were to purchase the same amounts of commercial jam, bags of frozen berries, and sliced berries, it would have set me back about $62.83.

I still have 3 jars left to fill with something though. I wonder when the raspberries will be ready?

How I Keep Our Grocery Costs in Check

Ok, so it's definitely not scientific by any means, but it works for us. Which means it's likely to work for others as well. Or some variation of it anyway.

The first thing I needed to do was develop a price book.  Click here to learn more about the hows and whys of price books. I used a spiral bound notebook and wrote down the sale items each week from fliers of each of the major stores. I also tracked the prices of items that we purchase on a weekly basis. Each product was labelled by name, size, price, and unit price.

Unit price is a way of determining cost per unit of product ie. per toilet paper sheet, or per diaper. Example: a box of 80 diapers is $29.99. Divide total cost by number of units = unit price.

$29.99 / 80 = app. 37 cents per diaper.

Using the calculator on my cell phone, I can calculate the unit price on a product right in the store. After several months of watching prices, you will see some recurring sale items, and some patterns in the pricing of those items. You may notice that typical baking items (sugar, flour, etc.) will go on sale every 6-8 weeks or so. Or that a certain brand of coffee will only go on sale every 6 months. Having a price book will help you to anticipate when products are more likely to go on sale so that you can purchase enough of a particular item just until it goes on sale again.

Knowing what things your family typically eats and how to reduce costs on those items is important. For example, we eat kidney beans in several of our favourite dishes. Reducing the cost for that item proved to easier for us by switching from cans of beans in liquid to buying dried kidney beans at the bulk store. When I need them for a recipe, I soak a cup of beans in water overnight, and gently boil them until tender before including them in my recipe. I purchase bulk spices and mix them together at home for chili seasoning, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, and taco mix.

I keep a running list on the door of the fridge of items that are almost gone, like body wash, or dish soap. When a sale comes along that I can get a great price on those items, I buy 6 of that particular item. I consult my price book to see what the item sold for the cheapest in the past 6 months. If it is the same, or less than that price, then I buy. You may find that 6 of a given item is too much or not enough for your household, but as you work through it, you will figure out how much of anything you really need to have on hand.

Another tactic we use to keep our items from running out is to simply use less. Every time I'm in the shower, I reduce the amount of shampoo that I squeeze from the bottle into my hand. I note mentally the size of the dollop in my hand, so that I know how much to use (the size of a dime instead of the size of a quarter). Too often, most people use way more of a product than is actually needed to produce the required results.

Menu plans have their place in achieving your financial goals as do making things from scratch. If bread or rolls are something that your family eats frequently, learn to make them yourself. The cost of the ingredients and your time are typically less than of commercial bread products. Make your own stock from chicken carcasses, meat bones, or from vegetable scraps.  

I don't have the privilege of having a backyard, so I am unable to grow our own produce. If I did, I'm sure I would be growing our own tomatoes and peppers at the very least. If you've never had a vegetable garden before, try growing one thing that your family will eat, like potatoes or onions. These are virtually goof-proof to grow.

These are most of the things I do to keep our home well stocked with the things we eat, and the things we use regularly. Feel free to add comments with your own methods. :)

Sunday Thoughts

Several months ago, hubby and I planned a week vacation to somewhere warm (read no snow) for the final full week of February. We decided to take advantage of last minute vacation/flight prices. We had saved the money for said vacation. And we knew we'd be needing it by then.

I mentioned it briefly way back in October 2010 in a post I wrote about getting hubby more involved in our finances and budgeting.

One person commented on that post, and ended that comment with this:

"I just don't think vacations are reasonable when someone has debt."

This comment had me thinking. A lot. At first, I was mildly offended that someone who knew almost nothing of our personal circumstances made a judgement like that. I am the type of person who tries very hard not to judge others at all. Then I thought about the amount of work and sacrifice that that person and their family endured so that they could go on a vacation, and return to no consumer debt. Then I thought about all the financial challenges that we have in our lives, some recurring, others being more of a one time thing.

Every time we discussed 'going away' for a much needed vacation to recharge our batteries, that single sentence would pop into my head like a ticker tape announcement on the bottom of a television screen. That's when I realised that after I peeled off the layers of my feelings, underneath the offense and justification and defensiveness, I actually really agreed with the commenter.

I don't think that a $2000-$3000 vacation is reasonable when our family has so much consumer debt. Over the course of the next three months, hubby and I talked a lot about our time away. We agreed that it wasn't right to go to an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean or wherever when we still have some $21,000 of debt that we had incurred. We had spent our future income on things we wanted, doing things we wanted to do, and the time has come to pay the piper.

We applied the $1200 or so we had saved to pay down some of the debt, and to keep current on our monthly bills. We bought groceries, and restocked what we needed to. We continued to talk about us 'going away', but in much different terms.

We're still going to go away, but only for one night instead of 6. Instead of flying off to a far away place, we'll be driving within 3 hours of our home town. Instead of paying people to look after our kids and our business for 7 days, it's only going to cost us for 2 days. We are looking at getting a free overnight stay, and the free & inexpensive things to do in that area instead of blowing a gob of money. The vacation budget has gone from $2000 to $250 that we both can live with.

This coming Wednesday, hubby and I will be leaving after we drop DD2 off at school to spend about 36 glorious hours together, doing whatever we want to do, sleeping a bed I don't have to make, and eating at least one meal that I don't have to cook, and leaving the work phones with someone else for awhile.



We also decided that we would pare down the summer vacation with the kids from 2 weeks to one. We reduced our outlay for the cottage from $1000 to $400 by getting only one week, and choosing a less expensive cottage. We'll cook our own meals and share the expenses with DD1 and her bf. I will have made a list of 'entertainment' for us all that is free or inexpensive, and work our way down the list when the kids want to do something fun.

The big goal will be to save up for a surprise trip to Disney in Florida once the debt has been done away with. We won't be telling the kids about it until we are leaving to get on the plane to go. That trip will be our reward for becoming debt free.

Unique Christmas Gifts Ideas

Here are some ideas that a general internet search has brought to me. Some of these ideas I can use right away this year. Others will be archived for future years' use.

1. Write a Christmas letter. You can make it look like a newsletter, or a vintage letter. However you you decide, you can update your extended family on the big news of the year in your family. There is even somewhere to send your addressed letters, that will ensure that the postmark will be from the North Pole! How cool is that?

The North Pole, Alaska post office will stamp all of your envelopes with their special holiday cancellation for no additional charge (you still need to put regular postage on your envelopes). All you have to do is adress and stamp your envelopes as you normally would. Then stick them all in a larger envelope and send them to:

North Pole Christmas Cancellation
c/o Postmaster
5400 Mail Trail
Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999

The North Pole elves (ok, postal employees) will then make sure your letters get sent to the appropriate addresses, just as if you'd dropped them at your local post office. To ensure delivery in time for Christmas, be sure to get your letters to the North Pole by December 15 at the very latest.

2. Make a wreath out of construction paper cut outs of your childrens hands. Let them pick colours, or have younger ones colour the hands. Cut a piece of cardboard into a ring the size you think you may use. Glue the paper hands to the ring, and attach a bow.

3. Refrigerator magnet that grows! Use a clean, transparent old prescription bottle. Attach a piece of magnetic to the back with glue. Add a small amount of soil, and a fast sprouting seed (think bean).

4. Write a children's story with your family members names as the characters. You can make up a fictional story or retell a favourite family event. You could hand print the story in a plain journal book. You could add photos, draw pictures or even use images cut from magazines to add the pictures to your story.

5. Make a button wreath ornament, or use buttons to make christmas themed ornaments.

6. Cookies in the shape of your childrens hands. Use some sturdy paper to trace your kids hands, cut out and use as a template for your cookies. use a sugar cookie recipe for the cookies.

7. Create a secret hollow book for someone. Find an old thick hardcover volume with an attractive title from the thrift shop. Glue the pages together and to the back cover but not to the front cover. Use an exacto knife to hollow out the pages, leaving at least half an inch of paper on all four sides. Put a handwritten message inside for the recipient.

8. Buy a photo frame from a thrift store and decorate it. Put a pic inside of your family, or your kids. Wrap and give.

9. Get small glass jars from the thrift store. Be sure to clean them completely. Fill with homemade spice mixes like taco seasonings or seasoning salt. Tie an attractive bow to the jar, or decorate another way. Be sure to label the jar with its contents.

10. Give a family tree photo album to a child. Find and reprint pictures of all the people in your family. Go as far as you can (or want to) in the family. Print the name of each person and their relationship to your child, (ie. aunt, cousin, great-grandfather) to put in the sleeve with each photo. You can get good used and sometimes new photo albums from a thrift store.

These are just a few of the great ideas I have found, or have come up with on my own. Frugal and unique, just like the gift giver. Please comment with some of your ideas below.

Batch Freezer Cooking - Ground Beef

As part of my frugal lifestyle-in-training, I find the idea of batch freezer cooking to be one of the best tips that I've come across. The idea itself is not unique, but it certainly is a timesaver.

What does batch freezer cooking entail? Well, for me, it may be a bit different than for others. Some people will spend an entire day preparing everything for 4 or more different casserole dishes, cooking them, letting them cool, wrapping them in aluminum foil, and putting them in the freezer. For me though, I try to do things a bit simpler.

Many of the dishes that I prepare for my family and that they like start with some of the same main meat ingredient. Ground beef. Plain old hamburger. I take a lot of ground beef, say 5 to 10 pounds of the stuff, and brown it. I make sure its very crumbly by breaking it up oftern while browning it over a medium-low heat on the stovetop. I'll add diced onion and garlic, and some of our favourite spices, particularly chili powder. Not enough to make your eyes water, but just enough so that you can smell it cooking in the beef juices.

When it's finished browning, I drain the fat away using a large collander. If your family is on a fat-reduced meal plan like mine is, then you could pat the ground beef with paper towels to extract more of the remaining fat. I will take out a portion of the cooked ground beef for whatever dish I am making that night, then let the collander of ground beef sit for awhile, until it has cooled enough to handle. After cooling, the ground beef gets spread on a clean cookie sheet in a reasonably thin layer. The cookie sheet goes directly into the freezer above our fridge for half an hour or so. This rapid cooling/partial freezing helps the ground beef retain its crumbly texture.

Using a measuring cup, I measure out portions into reusable plastic containers. Some get 1 cup, some get 2, depending on how many containers I have available to me at the time. The sealed containers then get stacked and put into the apartment sized deep freezer that we have. They are ready for use at any time. You should probably not let them stay in the freezer for more than 12 months, but my ground beef containers never stay in the freezer for more than a month. Did I mention we eat alot of ground beef?

When I'm days that I'm feeling too lazy to do any real cooking, or if I know I'm going to be compressed for time, I can pull out a container from the freezer. Our standby meals using this mixture are: tacos, chili, spaghetti, shepard's pie, and another dish I make that has no name, but is comprised of the ground beef mix, a can of diced tomatoes, mixed with cooked elbow macaroni and topped with shredded cheese. Yum!

I haven't yet ventured into other batch freezer cooking ideas, but if they all suit us as well as this one does, I'm sure going to like pre-planning our meals a whole lot more. The benefits of doing this one thing save us money by not having to order out, or eat out as much, saving money by purchasing larger quantities of ground beef when it is on sale, as well as being able to provide a home cooked for my family when time is limited.

Do you use any batch freezer methods that are simple, yet extremely helpful? Please share your ideas.

Frugal Gifts - Who?

As time inches closer to the upcoming holidays, I started thinking about frugal gifts. Why do we want to give them? To whom do we give them? Where and when should we give them? How do we approach giving them? Over the month of November, I plan to write a series of posts giving my thoughts and ideas on the subject, as well as ideas for frugal gifts to give.


When thinking about frugal gifts, who is it appropriate to give them to?
Think of all the people in your life that you give gifts to. Make a list. Children, parents, siblings, neices, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandchildren, friends, co-workers, newspaper delivery boy, are all people who you could give a frugal gift to. I don't think there is anyone on my list that wouldn't qualify for a frugal gift, to be honest. Folks who know me also know that we live and gift on a budget.

Reflect on the why of your gift giving gesture. Are you giving because you care for that person, and would like to give a gift as a gesture of your caring, or are you giving because you are trying to make an impression? For me, anyone who would think a frugal gift is inappropriate really isn't someone who I would want to give to anyway. I have no boss who I am trying to get a promotion from. I have no clientele who I want to get special treatment from. In fact, my gift giving impresses the people in my life because the gifts are frugal.

I hand make useful household items for relatives and friends. I make gifts-in-a-jar for people that reflect their individual tastes, like cookie and hot beverage mixes. I knit dishcloths and scarves for people in colours that they love. I know these things will be used too, unlike some dollar store trinket that I could have bought that will only take up space and require dusting (Did I mention I hate dusting?). I make gift tags from last years Christmas cards. I sew gift bags out of themed fabric to give gifts in, reducing waste, that can be reused for years to come.

I urge you to put some thought into frugal gift giving this year. Search the internet for ideas. There are literally thousands of items and how-to guides out there. If you have a particular frugal gift that you give, please share your idea with us in the comments below.