Snow Day ~ Good Day for Chili

Today marks the 3rd day in a row we've had no school due to inclement weather. With snow on the ground it made the perfect day for chili, and I had several containers of leftovers that I could sneak into the chili pot.  

Onions & tomatoes from the tacos this week, canned tomatoes left from some I put in the meatloaf this week, two small containers of spaghetti sauce, and the leftover beans from one day this week. 

This is a good example of the "use it up" philosophy we subscribe to at the Frugal Workshop. No food waste here this week and no one was the wiser that these things were added. 

Here is what the chili looked like afterwards: 

Here is my daughter's bowl:

Afterwards, we settled down to play a game of Crazy Eights. 

School has been cancelled again for tomorrow, and law enforcement officials are telling people to stay off the roads as they are dangerous.  Looks like I will have gas leftover at the end of this week too, just like last week. I think by the time this is over I am going to have cabin fever, lol. 

Hope you all are staying warm where ever you are. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

My Frugal Week

Monday was Martin Luther King day, so we had the day off from school and work. We decided to stay home and did not spend any money that day. 

For lunch on Monday I used up the last three salmon patties from the refrigerator. I had to cut open the bottle of tarter sauce to get the last bit out, but there was enough in there to cover the three sandwiches. I really wish they would design their bottle to make it easier to get the last little bit out of there, but until they do, this worked. 

I was able to work on Tuesday and then due to snow and cold temperatures we had a snow day on Wednesday and then again on Friday, so no school or work those days. 

I've actually ended the week with half a tank of gas leftover, which is very unusual for me, so this will be a savings for me this next week as well. 

Since we were at home Wednesday it was the perfect day to make homemade waffles. 

On Friday, since I had the day off from work, I scrubbed the kitchen down really well. I scrubbed the stove until it shined and swept and mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed the rug in there. 

I brought sandwiches with me when we finally got out on Saturday afternoon for my daughter's weekly volunteer duty. Afterwards, we went to Publix to pick up a few essentials. 

At Publix, I was able to purchase milk for 5¢, believe it or not, there was a coupon in the Sunday paper recently for a free gallon of milk, up to $4.00, if you bought two boxes of cereal. I bought two boxes of Post Raisin Bran, on sale at 2 for $5.00 and the milk was $4.05, so for $5.05 I bought 2 boxes of cereal and 1 gallon of milk, which I thought was a pretty good deal. :)

And then to the Dollar Tree for another loaf of 54¢ bread. 

We hauled our own garbage to the county dumpsters for free instead of paying someone to do it for us.

All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners were eaten at or came from home this week. 

Dinners this week included:

Monday: Beans & Franks, Corn.
Tuesday: Loaded Baked Potatoes, Broccoli, Green Peas.
Wednesday: Pizza Pasta, Green Beans with Onions & Potatoes
Thursday: Leftovers from Tuesday & Wednesday
Friday: Sausage Quiche, Broccoli
Saturday: Soup Beans, Collard Greens, Cornbread
Sunday: Smoked Sausage, Beans & Greens, Cornbread

Snacks were homemade too and included popcorn. 

Now here we are on Sunday afternoon and I have the thermostat set on 65 degrees, although at 53 degrees outside, it is warmer outside today than any other day this past week. We are sitting here reading the Sunday paper and clipping the coupons. Today was a good coupon day with four inserts. 

How has your week been so far? What frugal things have you done this week?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Saving Money on Heating ~ Tips to Stay Warm this Winter

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As I thought about what I wanted to write for this blog post, I looked at my back issues of the Tightwad Gazette. I noticed that Amy Dacyczyn didn't address this topic the way I would have, other than to discuss firewood mostly. 

Since we do not have a fireplace, that is not an option in our frugal home. So, I will be addressing other things you can do to save money in this area.

Lower your Thermostat - Lowering your thermostat will definitely help you to keep your heating bill low, but then you need to find other ways to keep warm. Here are some tips to help you stay warm while trying to save money.  

Insulation - Make sure your home is well insulated. Our home was insulated very well when it was built, which has saved us a lot of money over the years both with cooling and heating. This is harder to do in a home that you rent, but there are still things you can do to save money. 

Check for Drafts - If your home is drafty, your heating system is going to have to work more to compensate for the cold air, so it is necessary to do whatever you can to stop any drafts from coming inside. 

We have window air conditioners in our home and they definitely have drafts around them. We put towels in all the nooks and crannies of the a/c to keep the drafts out. We also cover our windows with either plastic wrap inside or blankets to keep the cold out.We also put a huge slab of Styrofoam on the outside of our French doors to keep the cold out.  

When we lived in an older home with older style windows, they were drafty! We covered all of the windows with plastic outside and and would take socks and stuff them between the glass and window frame to stop any drafts and those measures made a big difference in our electric bill.  

We have friends who lived in an old farm house and they used to take bales of hay and line the crawlspace under the house to keep the cold out.  

Reverse your Ceiling Fans. Here is a blog post I wrote about this very topic. Ceiling fans were created to be used in both cold and hot temperatures. In the winter time, they need to be reversed to allow the warm air to move down the walls and to the floor, which will make the room feel warmer. 

Be Active - The other day I was cleaning the kitchen and when I finally sat down to relax, I realized how warm I was even though it was actually cool in the house. So don't dismiss the idea of exercising or doing some chores to keep yourself busy and warm. 

Dress in layers - Wear warm clothes such as long pants and long sleeve shirts. Wear a hat if it is really cold since that is where a lot of heat escapes from your body. Wear socks and slippers. Put on a sweater or a light jacket. In extreme cold I have been know to even wear gloves in the house.

Close Rooms Not in Use - If you have a room you are not using either close the vent in that room or close the door, so you are not heating rooms unnecessarily. 

Warm Your Bed - Use a hot water bottle, or a rice pack, or cherry pit bed warmer to help keep your bed toasty warm at night. I've been saving my cherry pits for years, so that some day I will be able to make me a cherry pit bed warmer. I first learned about the idea in book from Mother Earth News. Other ideas include using an electric blanket or even a heating pad if you have one available.

Open Blinds & Curtains - Harness the power of the sun and open your blinds and curtains on the sunny side of the house, and when the sun shifts close them to keep the warmth inside.

Use Blankets - We have blankets in every location where someone sits in our home and we usually always have one on when we are sitting. It just makes good sense to stay warm by covering up like this.

Drink Warm Drinks - Hot tea or hot chocolate are both good drinks to keep your body from feeling so chilly. 

In the Kitchen - After I have baked something, I always leave my oven door open so the heat can escape into the house.

Invest in an Infrared Heater  - Consider investing in an infrared heater for your home. Here is a blog post I wrote on this topic last year. Infrared Heat  

There are many steps you can take to insure that you stay warm and save some money in the process. I hope my post has helped you come up with some ideas of your own as well. 

What are some of the ways you help to keep your home warm during a cold spell?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Free Subscription to All You Magazine from Recyclebank

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I've had a free subscription to All You magazine for the past two years and I just renewed my subscription for a third year all at no cost to me thanks to Recyclebank. 

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Recyclebank is one of those online reward programs that rewards you for taking steps to help the environment by recycling. Here is a snippet from the website:

Recyclebank’s goal is to help people live more sustainably. We believe that individual actions, such as increasing recycling or learning about greener ways to purchase, consume or dispose of products, can add up to a big impact for our planet. 

 Earning points with Recyclebank is fairly easy. Usually I take the fun, interactive quizzes to earn points like this one, which took me less than 2 minutes to complete and earned me 25 points:

Once I earn enough points, I redeem those points for free magazine subscriptions, although they have other reward options to choose from. It takes very little time to earn enough for a free magazine subscription. A subscription to All You magazine is worth 400 points and that amount can be earned easily and quickly. 

This is another example of how we use reward programs to save money here at the Frugal Workshop. All You magazine has coupons inside that we clip and then use to save money on our grocery bill. 

Give it a try and see what you think. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Kellogg's Family Rewards

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Do you belong to the Kellogg's Family Rewards (KFR) program? 

The way the program works is you collect codes from products with the Kellogg's Family Rewards Logo.  You then earn rewards just by consuming your favorite products. 

I know I've said it before, but my family loves Keebler Club Crackers. Inside every box of crackers is a code that I enter in at the KFR website. When I've accumulated enough points, I can redeem them for rewards. There is a list of rewards you can earn on the website. 

I currently have enough points accumulated to earn a coupon for Club crackers for $1.50 off a box, so this is a money saving rewards program for me. 

The website has a list of the products where you can find codes and include things like baking items, freezer items (like Morningstar Farms), breakfast items, cereal, snacks, crackers, cookies. 

KFR is definitely worth checking to see if any of the brands your family consumes are included in order to save yourself some money.  

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”