FRUGAL LIVING IN COLUMBUS,OHIO
Frugal living is a lifestyle
that involves careful
planning and spending
as well as avoiding
waste. It's not about
being cheap; it's
really about being
practical and making
the most of available
resources through
various methods of
saving money, reusing
existing items instead
of buying new ones,
and finding bargains
and good deals.
The premise is that
a person shouldn't
pay more for something
if he or she doesn't
have to.
I plan on making ice cream cupcakes sprinkled with crumbled up Butterfingers. Birthday dinner: Take out Long John Silvers fish fillets, hush puppies, coleslaw and homemade mac n cheese.
Here we have a photo, taken by Jens Meyer, of Volker Kraft decorating a tree with 9,200 Easter eggs in his garden in the ancient town of Saalfeld in Germany. Will and Guy can tell you that the Kraft family have decorated their tree with Easter eggs for over 40 years.
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Have a cupcake and a smile. My newest jelly bean cupcake. ----------------------------
3:40pm
My ice cream cupcakes. I placed a tablespoon of cake mix into each cupcake wrapper baked 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Allowed to cool down some. Spoon ice cream, that has been softened by sitting on the counter for a bit, into the remaining space in the cupcake wrapper. Wrappers will start to pull apart from sides of cupcakes because of the ice cream so when putting in freezer on a cookie sheet make sure they are snugged up against one another. Put into freezer until hardened. Remove from freezer and put frosting on top. Smack one regular Butterfinger candy bar on the counter a few times to crumble into pieces. Open and pour into a small bowl. Sprinkle over tops of cupcakes.
These cupcakes are made from sugar free cake mix and frosting. Be careful not to eat too much candy or confections that are sugar free as they can have a laxative affect!!
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Today I got 8 packages FREE of Butterfinger Snackerz at Kroger with the coupons I mentioned yesterday!!
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Tony found a black smooth top stove for sale for only $35 obo. I like obo's because you know ahead of time they will take less so don't offer full price when wheelin and dealin! It's about 5 years old. Supposed to go tomorrow to look at it. We thought maybe something was wrong with it for that price but when we asked, they said no, the only reason they are getting rid of it is because the house they just bought had gas and this is electric. The guy said they paid $700 for it when new. Will be going over it with a fine tooth comb at that price! But it looks nice anyway and you really can't beat that price. I told Tony if we get this stove then consider it his birthday present, lol. I didn't get him anything for his birthday other than the cupcakes. I had told him to pick something out that he wanted within reason. So we will see tomorrow and I will get back to ya to let you know.
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Why do credit card companies have to be soooooooo annoying??!! We have a card that we don't use anymore, haven't used in many years, and have been trying to pay off the small amount owed on it. I have been paying it every month, on time, for a long time now. I got a couple days, literally, behind with getting that bill sent out because Tony was in the hospital. And I'll be damned if they called 11 TIMES in 3 1/2 days!!
From the 27th of this month to the 29 it was 9 TIMES!! And ya wanna know the kicker to this story? I just checked my bank account and the check cleared on the 27th, three days after I sent it!!
6:45pm
Just got home from the birthday dinner at mom's. No sooner got through the door and the phone was ringing again. It was the credit card company calling yet again!! I had Tony answer it. It's always a foreign person who you can barely understand. She was going on and on and Tony tried to tell her to stop talking to explain himself. She wouldn't so he finally got pissed and said in a loud voice, "I don't know why you keep calling and harassing us, we checked our checking account today and your payment cleared the bank on the 27th. STOP CALLING HERE!!" and then he hung up on her. So I wonder if they will call more tomorrow. I've about had enough of them!
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10:55pm
I just submitted another Jelly Belly Bean creation of mine.
Then will make mushroom rice to serve beef stew over to stretch it out even more. 2 pkgs mushroom rice $2.00
Total cost: $8.34 3 meals, about 12 servings @ .69 cents per serving.
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2:45pm
Well I finally got around to making some more laundry soap. I still have about 2 gallons left of the last batch. So I will let you know when I run out of that before using the newer detergent that I just made.
If you recall, I made the last batch October 20th and it only costs $1.25 per bucket to make!! I'm gonna guess and say, with the remaining detergent I have, that this bucket of laundry soap will have lasted me 4 months. I think I have another 3 weeks left with the remaining detergent, maybe more but I am only guessing.
It is so easy to make your own detergent and doesn't take long to do!
This is especially good for those who have sensitive skin and can't deal with store bought detergents with all the colorings and scents added in.
People ask me how this ends up being so cheap to make when the boxes of Arm & Hammer washing soda and Borax can be a little costly at $3-$5 a box, Zote costs about $1.00 to $1.20 a bar and lasts for 3 batches, and I use Dollar Store brand Oxy Clean for another $1.00. For each batch you are only using 1 cup of Arm & Hammer 1/2 cup Borax 1/3 bar Zote and about 1/2 cup Oxy Clean
I still have almost full boxes of everything after making an 8 month supply of detergent!! Other than buying more Zote and Oxy Clean, the most expensive items should make me MANY batches of laundry detergent and last me at least a couple years!! I recycle old detergent bottles and refill them with my homemade. Much easier to move around than a 5 gallon bucket.
NOTE:No toes were harmed in themaking of this detergent, LOL.
For those of you who missed it, I dropped a laundry bucket on my toe while making my last batch. It got infected really bad to the point of having to have my toe nail removed. And while dealing with that severe infection (staph & impetigo) I caught the stomach virus. When combining the two, it wasn't good and I ended up in the ER. So of course I had all this on my mind while making my newest batch and was a little nervous. Who knew making laundry detergent could be hazardous to your health, LOL!
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5:15pm
Supper Beef stew over mushroom rice. ----------------------------------
Butterfinger Snackerz $1.00 off 2 coupon use zip code 23462 to find two coupons, be sure to print 2 of each for a total of 8 Snackerz. I can usually find these on sale at Kroger for .50 cents so it would make these FREE with coupons.
I plan to crush up butterfingers and sprinkle them over top of Tony's birthday cake tomorrow. It's a sugar free cake and icing. I don't think it would hurt to have a little sweet on it. It wouldn't be like eating a whole or even a half of a candy bar per slice. Tomorrow I need to get some no sugar added ice cream or one that's made with Splenda. Want to make an ice cream cake.
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Money saving tip
Pants too tight around the waist? Cut the outside seam of the legs open all the way up to the waist and add wide ribbon or fabric strips to the sides and sew back up. I think this would be pretty if you added lace.
I like to think of ways I could change my wardrobe. Here's a cute thing I found to do with a box of pants I have from a move out at my honey's work. So it wouldn't hurt to tinker with freebies. I've even seen shorts made like this as well. Something different.
Took mom and myself to the dentist and we both got adjustments done on our teeth. It was an almost 2 hour wait in the dentist office. They said they had a situation come up and that's the reason for the wait.
After leaving mom wanted to stop in Kroger. I grabbed a couple frozen pizzas for tonight's supper since the delay at the dentist office has put me behind today. I also got some beef gravy to make beef stew with carrot medallions (don't have any potatoes) over mushroom rice Friday, some fat free cream cheese to make smoked salmon stuffed mushrooms to go with a 2 pound pork roast for this weekend which cost $3.50 which I thought was pretty reasonable.
I kept watching my watch at Kroger because kids were due home soon. I no sooner got home, come in through the back door, went out the front door to check the mail and the bus was pulling up. I couldn't have timed that any better!
Looks like an earlier bedtime for me tonight, couldn't fall asleep for some reason last night and no nappie time today. So tired! Don't have any plans for tomorrow other than throwing some beef stew in the crock pot. I like simple days! Next week Tony has the pager so that will be fun. This past weekend the one guy on call had 20 water freeze ups, ahhh! So let's hope for some decent temps.
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Anyone need any crafting inspiration check out Etsy. All kinds of hand crafted items and clothing for sale. I just like to look to get ideas.
Starting around 2pm Tide will be giving away 5,000 Tide washing machine cleaner packets. "like" them on Facebook.
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If you sign up your Speedy Rewards card on Speedway's web site they sometimes send printable coupons for freebies in their store. This month it's a free Enon Springs Sharp Water.
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Helpful Hint from Farmer's Almanac
If you drop an egg on the floor cover it with salt so there will be no slimy mess!
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9:30am
I am currently working on my newest jelly bean cupcake. Trying to get a couple things done up ahead of time before taking mom to the library that way I can come home and hopefully put it all together.
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12:30pm
Just got home. Took mom to the library then we went to Kroger after that. Here's my deals I found:
2 pkgs diced onion $1.00 each (will freeze)
1 pkg stir fry fresh veggies $1.49
1 pkg cauliflower $1.00
Sante Fe Chicken style salad $1.49
Large stuff style mushroom $1.69 3 pkgs pop corn chicken .99 cents (not the healthiest choice but if eaten in small portions or mixed in with a meal won't be so bad) 6 boxes of organic macaroni & cheese -these suckers were normally $3.00 a box for your average sized box of mac n cheese. I paid .50 cents each. I couldn't of even imagined paying $18 for 6 boxes of mac n cheese!!! --------------------------------
12:50pm
Oh dear God I found out my ex is wanting/trying to get a job where me and my honey used to work, UV. Let's see how well they remember him and the chaos he caused when I worked there.
Anything else want to go wrong for me?! Just send it my way now so I can get it all out of the way at once!
I think it's nap time! ---------------------------------
Christmas Candle Cupcake I made.
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5:00pm
I made up another cupcake and left off the coconut. This is the one I submitted to Jelly Belly. If anyone is wondering what I used for the wreath ring around the "candle", it is almond slivers that I died green with food coloring to look like leaves. . ---------------------------------
My honey got in his email a printable coupon for a free dinner at Captain D's for his birthday. Can choose fish, chicken, shrimp or tilapia.
Be sure to sign up at all those restaurants to get some freebies on your birthday.
This will be the third free dinner from Captain D's in the last 2 weeks. The other two freebie dinners were from signing up at their website.
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7:40pm
I can't wait for Spring to get here. I'm starting to get cabin fever. Sure do miss those warm days with the sun shining and windows open with a warm breeze blowing through the house.
I've been sitting here thinking about ways to make improvements to the house. I found a quart of paint I had that I got free from Glidden. I got the paint awhile back to do the bathroom with and found a color that would go with the floor that was in there. I like it better than the recent sample I got. Plus the recent sample I got wasn't even a quart of paint or enough paint to do the bathroom with. So maybe in the near future I can try to get motivated and paint the bathroom. I've just been so tired here lately and feel like I could sleep all day. I'm so ready for a little sunshine.
Anyway here is the paint from Glidden I picked out. It's called Cyprus Grass. I did a paint sample on a piece of cardboard to see what it would look like. I didn't like the color by the looks in the can but once it dried it looked pretty nice.
When choosing the free paint from the internet I actually took my computer into the bathroom and put it on the floor next to the floor colors to try and pick one of the many
colors they had to choose from that went with it, lol.
Here someone used this color in their laundry room.
And here is my bathroom floor along with the Cyprus Grass wall color paint sample I did.
I don't know, I just need a project to get me motivated and make it more cheerful around here. How hard could painting a bathroom be being a small space, lol.
This is going to be a tiring day. I woke up at 4am because my belly was hurting. Ya know there's not too much going on, on tv at that hour which sucked when you can't sleep. Anyway I got some ibuprofen and a couple Tums and it seemed to take the edge off for me to fall asleep a couple more hours. I don't know what the belly ache was all about but I sure hope it goes away. I hadn't experienced one like this before.
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This morning I need to go with mom to Sprint to activate one of our backup cell phones. Tony lost his and we have searched high and low for it with no luck. So there's another added expense to throw on top of everything else. But I give him lots of credit for holding onto it this long. We've never lost any of our phones before. You look back at the days before cell phones and we got by just fine. And now it seems like we can't live without them. It only costs $20 for both of ours so I can't complain. I know some people who are paying a hundred to two a month for just one phone.
Just returned from Sprint. Good news, they didn't charge me anything to switch the service from one phone to the other! Whew!
I also won a new battery on Ebay for mom's cell phone today. Her phone seems to be having a hard time keeping a charge. So we'll see if that fixes it. Was only $4.35 with free shipping. Sure beats the price of another phone!
I hate those days when you have nothing planned for supper and don't know what to fix.
I also need to work on getting more cupcakes made so I can get the creative juices flowing, lol.
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4:35pm
Got 3 batches of different sized cupcakes baking. 2 jumbo and 1 dozen each of regular and mini. I know I've talked about some ideas I've had with cupcakes but I haven't had the time to make any more up til now.
I also decided upon a simple supper: Tomato Soup with shredded cheddar cheese and homemade wheat croutons on top. Grilled cheese with dill relish, Best Life Butter and wheat bread.
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I thought this was funny. Just saw it on Mad on Cartoon Network. The Taylor Swiffer.
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7:10pm
Kendra- If you have the plastic egg covers over those 2.5 dozen medium eggs from Kroger and don't need them I could use them. They make great cups to use when painting things and mixing colors. Here's mine I put to use tonight. Ok, so it's not paint and it's food coloring I'm using. That's why I need more than one. Edible and non edible paints.
Well I'm gonna go chill for a little bit then get ready to watch the movie Mean Girls 2 on ABC Family at 9pm. Let's hope I can stay awake long enough to watch it, lol.
The house seems so quiet with everyone gone off to school and work. My honey just called. It'll probably take him a bit to get back into the swing of things at work. Then he proceeds to tell me as he was walking out of the office he fell down on the sidewalk, twisting his bad knee/leg underneath him and then says he bumped his head as well. At least another coworker saw him and made sure he was ok. So now I sit here and worry he didn't injure himself any further. He says he has a bit of a headache. You would have thought someone would have thrown some salt down on the walks especially at the office!!
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12:00pm
Woo Hoo I just snagged a couple free hair colors from Clairol! Got one for me and mom. Go here before they run out Clairol on Facebook. I have a couple empty forms pulled up for the offer if y'all want one let me know!
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3:25pm
Breakfast: was cereal & gluten free bagel with Best Life butter spread & jelly.
Lunch: Leftovers from yesterday.
Supper: Tuna & Noodles -Box of mini penne pasta .50 cents
-2 pouches of tuna- Free -can of cream of mushroom soup .39 cents
They may have a CVS logo on them but they are manufacture coupons and you should be able to use them anywhere as it does not state you must use the coupon at CVS.
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MAIL CALL
Today I received in the mail a sample box of Aveda Smooth Fusion shampoo, conditioner and Style Prep smoother.
Kroger coupon book. Has a coupon for free Kroger diaper wipes.
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6:00pm
Along side of supper I worked on a creation for the chocolate covered raisin contest. I made a mini version of my recipe for everyone to sample. For starters, I am the only one around here that likes raisins whether chocolate covered or not. While I cannot share the recipe until I write it up and enter it, I can say that all the samples where gone within minutes! My family gobbled them up, raisins and all!! I can give you a hint, I love chocolate combined with fruit flavors.
Last night we watched Heavy on A&E. If you need some inspiration to eat healthier and want to loose weight, that's the show to watch.
Seriously thinking about getting a stationary bicycle, maybe even 2. I'm sure I could find one on Freecycle.
Put one in the living room and kids bedroom. If anyone wants to play a game system or watch tv, then they will have to do it while riding the bicycle.
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11:30am
Trying to rethink our priorities between our wants and needs. With a lessened income tax refund we are now rethinking that new fridge we wanted. May have to wait longer for that and just dust off the older one we've been using. Now instead have been looking at used power chairs for Tony to get around better at events or shows we go to. Just an idea though to help him better get around with nerve damage in his feet and arthritis in his hips.
I would like to downsize a few vehicles we have and put that money in the bank. Use some of that money for any repairs needed for our daily drivers. Since Tony's trip to the hospital we have a Lexus sitting on jack stands that hasn't been repaired completely. Kind of at a stand still at the moment since his trip to St. Anns. Still needs tires, brakes, lug nuts and whatever else to put it back together.
We were talking about enclosing the car port that way he could do things outside in any kind of weather. BUT that would depend upon costs to put sides and windows in it. I want it to look like a sunroom/ garage. I need those sunroom windows in it to be able to view the backyard and kids. To keep costs down we would have to find the supplies cheap, free, or used so it will take some time to search for those materials at something we could afford. Like on Craigslist or Habitat.
If it's something that you want and that can wait to be done, use that time while waiting to buy supplies here and there when you find them for cheap instead of having a financial burden of buying the materials all at once.
I know everyone can dream up stuff. So here is a visual of what I would like done. I found a picture of a carport turned into a sun room. I took that photo and rearranged everything to look like the garage area I want. This shows 5 windows on the side while ours would only have 3 and the door. And I would like the added door next to the garage door. This is the original photo I tinkered with.
And my tinkering I did.
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3:30pm
Went to a couple thrift stores in search of a stationary bike. No luck with that but I did find the boys some long sleeve shirts. Something I didn't get the other day when at the thrift store. I got 5 shirts at .99 cents each so $4.95 for all. Plus $8.92 for 8 pairs of pants from the other day. Total cost for a new Winter wardrobe for 2 kids $13.97. Not too shabby!! Believe me they needed some "new" clothes between growth spurts, stains and tears. I also found a couple books at the thrift store.
Mayo Clinic The Essential Diabetes Guide from 2008. To buy from a bookstore would have cost $12 according to the sticker on it. I paid .90 cents.
Better Homes & Gardens Double sided book. Christmas Treats & Anytime Treats. I paid .50 cents
I know, what am I doing buying a cookbook on things that are not healthy. Hey, I still have those contest to think about with cookies! Need to get inspired somewhere.
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After the thrift store we stopped in UDF. Tony wanted a beer and kids wanted something to drink. And yes, that was a light beer and those were diet pops.
Anyways that's not where I'm going with this ridiculous story.
All four of us take our stuff up to the counter to pay for it. The cashier says, "sir, I'm gonna need to see your ID" (for the beer), then she says, "actually I'm gonna need to see all of your IDs since you are buying a beer and there are 4 of you purchasing things in this transaction." I'm thinking come on now, really, do you think younger kids have IDs and you really need to verify their ages!! Tony says to the boys jokingly, "maybe you should all go out to the truck since you don't have ID's so I can buy a beer." And the cashier then says, "I would prefer if you did because I am not supposed to sell anyone beer who has kids with them and I'm on camera." I'm thinking to myself, that is crazy to say that. Now I'm supposed to leave my kids in the car by themselves, she's lost her mind! That's when I twerpt up and said, "this is crazy, so I'm not supposed to have kids with me to purchase beer. Even in Kroger, do you think if you were grocery shopping and purchased some beer and groceries and had kids in tow they would tell you they couldn't sell you beer?!" "Speedway sells beer all the time to us with kids beside us." "What about dining out at a restaurant and you decided to have a glass of wine or beer along side your meal and with your kids, do you think they are gonna tell you, you can't buy any alcohol because you have your children with you." She didn't say much after that. Me and the kids went to the truck while Tony purchase our things. This was the most ridiculous and crazy crap that I've heard in a long time!!!
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Today's lunch
1 leftover tilapia fillet with veggies, chef salad and spaghettios for the kids.
I got 2 books from the library the other day. They both were called, This or That. The books were about what foods you should chose over others. And in it, it said that while Spaghetios did have a little higher sugar content it had a full serving of vegetables, 1/3 less sodium, 1 gram of fat and 7 essential nutrients.
SUPPER
baked pork chops
-Thinly sliced pork chops 6 chops for $2.68 -dipped in fat free ranch dressing .25 cents -Then lightly breaded with homemade wheat bread crumbs. - Free
frozen green giant corn .50 cents with I can't believe it's not butter with olive oil-Free and Morton's lite salt .05 cents
and I'm not sure what else at this moment
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Well I need to start my laundry. We all need to start getting back to a normal week around here. The kids had Monday off last week for Martin Luther Kind day, then had Friday off for a snow day. Tony's been off work for the past 2 weeks. So everything has been out of whack.
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Anyone need lots of fabric? The thrift store on Indianola has HUGE bolts of fabric for about $12. And I don't mean one bolt of fabric in this offer. They have about 5-7 HUGE bolts taped together for this price. I don't mean like something you see at JoAnn fabrics either. These things stand as tall as myself! And many to offer in a bin in the furniture/bedding section. Anyone doing Ebay would benefit from selling this fabric as there are MANY yards of fabric for this price. Not cheap fabric either. Most were a medium to heavy weight.
If you are unemployed you can get an additional 20% off over 1,500 regular-priced grocery and drugstore items for up to six months
Eligibility:Kmart customers who present state-issued identification (driver’s license or identification card) and a state-issued unemployment benefits enrollment confirmation are eligible to participate in the program (“Eligible Participants”). At checkout, cardholders will be required to show their valid discount card, their state-issued identification card for signature verification and their state-issued unemployment benefits enrollment verification. Valid signature verification is required to use the card.
Clairol is giving away 100,000 coupons for their Nice ‘N Easy Color Blend Foam. (This should be a coupon for a free box). This promo will be for Clairol’s Facebook Fans. This will run 1/24-1/27. Each day they will be giving away 25,000 coupons!
I don't have an exact time, only the days.
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Dollar General is having a .25 cents Christmas clearance sale til January 31st. See details HERE.
I try to access Jelly Belly's cupcake contest page and it's coming up as a blank page. Just wondering if it's my computer or if it's the website. Been trying for two days now. Someone let me know please :0)
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Has anyone tried a Tony Little's Gazelle? We were thinking about an exercise bike but that only exercises your legs or bottom area. We was thinking of a simple, small machine that worked the upper body as well. I'm also wondering about the impact it has in the knee area when exercising.
My name is Sherry, 39yrs old, from Columbus, Ohio. I am married, a SAHM, and have 3 children ages 9, 10 and 20.
I have been frugal/thrifty all my life.
I would like to share on this blog how we get by day to day on one income with a family of 5 with a dog and a cat. You will also hear about my everyday gripes about daily life and the cost of living. Hubby says my favorite saying is, "and that is another thing that pisses me off!"