Handy Multi-use Cleaning Tool

I keep a handy, multi-use cleaning tool in my dish drainer -- an old toothbrush!  It has come in handy for cleaning those hard to reach places that I can't get as clean as I would like with a rag or scrub brush (like behind the faucet, or in the ridges of the fridge's water dispenser tray), and it's easy to clean when I'm done using it.  Sometimes soap and hot water is all it needs, but sometimes it gets a bleach bath just to be safe.  :)  I let it air-dry with the bristles up so it doesn't get gross.  

This week I discovered another use for it -- I squirted dish soap on it like I would toothpaste and scrubbed out all the little bits of turkey and herbs that were stuck on the inside of my baster.  :)

Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesday at tammysrecipes.com yet?  Go visit!

Christmas Challenge - Part 25

25 - A Final Christmas Challenge!  We celebrated Christmas today far from our extended family, and with an integral part of our immediate family away from home as well, and it was a JOYFUL, HAPPY Christmas!  For our family, it does not matter who we are with on Christmas Day (or who is with us!) or where we celebrate.  

Christmas is a joyful reminder that GOD, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, chose to send His only son to earth, not "just to visit" or "be a good example" or "spread peace and goodwill", but He came with a purpose:  to die for us and save us from our sins!  What a reason for us to celebrate, no matter what our present circumstances may be!

So, from our imperfect circumstances to yours...JOYFUL CHRISTMAS, everyone!!!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 24

24 - Making Memories.  It's Christmas Eve!  I wonder if the kids will remember much of what we did today, but I have no doubt that I will!  I wouldn't say we "made merry" or did anything special, but we definitely made some memories!  We made a Walmart run for milk, eggs, wrapping paper, tape and crayons on a very windy day, and we came out of the store into a torrential downpour.  It was wonderfully warm rain, pooling up to my ankles in the parking lot, and we were soaked to the skin by the time we got to our van, but we laughed all the way, and my four-year-old caught raindrops on her tongue...and her eyes, nose, face, and hair, too.  :)  What a memory to keep!  This evening the kids unwrapped their pajamas from Grandma by the light of the Christmas tree, a bunch of candles, and a rarely lit fireplace.  (Note to self:  next year, don't light the advent candles when the fireplace is lit...although the spectacularly melted-down candles really impressed the girls.)  More memories...  :)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Challenge - Part 23

23 - Christmas Lights.  My like-minded neighbor and I were talking today about how much money it takes to decorate the outside of a house for Christmas, for just one month out of the year.  We came up with a fairly simple, Scrooge-ish solution...skip the decorating, and enjoy the neighbors' displays!  :)

So, enjoy the Christmas lights...courtesy of our neighbors!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 22

22 - Cinnamon Dough Ornaments.  We made these last year as a school project when my two oldest were in Kindergarden.  We (yes, all six of us!) were living in a hotel room, and we didn't have a lot of decorating options, or space!  I got some cookie cutters at the thrift store for .25, and we made these ornaments.  They smelled wonderful, and we made a bunch to mail to grandmas and aunts for Christmas presents.  We kept the Baby Jesus we made, though.  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 21

21 - Christmas Card display.  It had to be cheap, easy, out of my way, and definitely out of reach.  So I stuck two push-pins in the top of the trim (where the holes won't show) and tied an elasticised ribbon to them.  I hang up the cards we receive with plastic coated paper clips.  It is cheap, easy, out of my way, and definitely out of reach.  :)

And next year I'm going to skip the elasticised ribbon and go with something a little less, well, stretchy.  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 20

20 - Procrastinators get what they ask for...  namely, long lines at the post office!  Most years I am so organized that I have Christmas gifts wrapped up and ready to be mailed to far away places shortly after Thanksgiving (which, by the way, really saves on shipping costs!).  Between the recent upheaval in our household, our bouts of sickness, and those well-laid plans I had for Christmas gift baskets NOT working out as planned, well, let's just say that procrastination became my byword of the month.

The five of us spent the first part of our morning at the post office...twice.  We got there shortly after they opened and took the first load in (there was NO line!), mailed some stuff, bought stamps and got boxes, then went back out to the car to assemble the boxes.  The girls put stamps on our pile of Christmas cards, Mr. Adorable read books and played, and I packaged, addressed, and promised myself that this WILL NOT HAPPEN next year.  We went back inside and got in the kinda-long line, and mailed the rest of our stuff.  By the time we left, the line was humongous, and I can only imagine how much it grew as the day went on!

All these words, just to say, "Plan ahead, don't procrastinate, and you'll save yourself a bunch of money, without the last-minute headache!"

Christmas Challenge - Part 19

19 - Christmas Letter.  Instead of Christmas cards, we usually send out a Christmas letter (with pictures) to our friends and family.  This year, due to circumstances beyond our control, the time I usually set aside to work on them was taken up by other important activities, like spending time with my husband.  

So if you get a Christmas card instead of a Christmas letter from me this year, do me a favor.  Set aside something you've got planned that isn't really all that important, and go spend some time with someone you love instead.

(And, yes, I'll be hitting those after Christmas clearance sales and stocking up on Christmas cards -- to save for the next time life happens!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 18

18 - Buy just one favorite movie.  Last year I rented Baryshnikov's version of The Nutcracker for my girls to watch.  They LOVED it (but then again, I don't know too many little girls who wouldn't!)  So this year, for a joint Christmas present I got them "their" own copy (from half.com  -- for less than half the price other places were charging!), and I gave it to them early.  Our kids do not watch many movies as a rule, but with special permission, they have watched it almost every day (sometimes twice a day) after their schoolwork and chores are done.  Even Mr. Adorable watches the whole thing -- he is 19 months old and won't sit through any other movie.

Yeah, I think we've gotten our money's worth out of it.  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 17

17 - Do you see what I see?  I see a beautiful star, colored and cut out by a certain 4 year-old, and hung at the top of our tree with gold foil-covered wire.  She made it in Children's Church on Sunday, and spent the ride home wondering where on the tree would be high enough to keep it safe, because "It's only paper, but it's special to me, Mom."

Christmas Challenge - Part 16

16 - Nothing says Christmas like...kumquats!  Perhaps growing up in the southern hemisphere (where Christmas is in the summer) has twisted my thinking slightly, but I was elated to find kumquats at my commissary yesterday.  (Yes, elated!)  :)

Why has the Christmas season become synonymous with cookies and candy and every kind of sweet sugary treat?  This year, none of it appeals to me!  (I know what you are thinking, dear family and friends: who AM I and what I have I done with the REAL me!?!)  :)  My answer this week to the question of Christmas treats:  kumquats.

Kumquats are sweet and sour, convenient (you eat the peel), and bright and cheerful!  I filled up my grandma's antique juicer with them and use them as a centerpiece on the table.  In the past, I have filled a giant vase with red delicious apples, green Granny Smith apples, or a combination of the two, or a tall, narrow vase with cranberries.  Beautiful, convenient, healthy snacks...I mean centerpieces!

(Check out Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at tammysrecipes.com!)

Christmas Challenge - Part 15

15 - Stocking Stuffers.  My kids usually get a bunch of small things in their stockings, as well as things like dried fruit and nuts, none of which are much fun to wrap.  So I had my mom make me some little drawstring bags out of Christmas fabric scraps that I can fill for them year after year.  Cute, free, and reusable!  (Thanks, Mom!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 14

14 - Clearance, clearance, clearance.  I won't embarrass any stores by telling you how cheap I got these things.  I shop the Christmas clearance sales every year.  I don't mean the day-after sales.  I mean the "it's been marked down more than 75% and is dirt-cheap" sales, a month or so later.  Things like wrapping paper and gift bags and cards you can save away for next year (and they don't take much storage space, either).  I keep the candles to use next year, and I've used a big tub of soft wrapped mints as filler in packages we mail.  Use your imagination!

Christmas Challenge - Part 13

13 - Specialty Christmas recipes.  You'd think that a recipe written by a chef with a good reputation would be good, right?  Not necessarily.  I searched for and finally found a recipe online for something I wanted to make for a food gift basket for a friend (who is reading this, so act surprised when you get it, okay?).  :)  I made it last night, (and followed the recipe EXACTLY) and packaged it up without trying it first.  Today it occurred to me that I should at least sample it before giving it.  It was horrible.  Awful.  I couldn't even finish the little bit I sampled.

So, because I hate to waste anything, I gave it to the kids for a snack.  They were thrilled!  But the "mmm's" got quieter and quieter, until finally they told me it was too sweet and asked permission to throw the rest out.

Oh well.  Maybe I can find another use for it.  :(  And I've got another recipe to try for that gift basket...but I WILL remember to sample it first!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 12

12 - Use old maps as wrapping paper.  My husband is a pilot, so we have a lot of expired sectional charts around our house.  We reuse them as wrapping paper for our kids, families, and like-minded friends.  :)  

(Side-note:  I don't like using the comics out of the newspaper like my grandparents did because I don't like getting newsprint everywhere, and we don't get the paper anyway.  It's a great idea too though!)

Christmas Challenge - Part 11

11 - On not spending money.  This week we have discovered a way to not only cut back on the grocery bill, but to not spend money anywhere else, either.  

Get sick.  Really yucky sick.  Awful. 

Everyone in the whole house.  

At the same time.  

We've tried that this week, and we didn't go grocery shopping or run any errands.  We've saved a bundle, I'm sure, but I don't recommend this method!

Christmas Challenge - Part 10

10 - Do your Christmas shopping ahead of time.  WAY ahead of time!  Start watching the after Christmas clearance and sales for all of your Christmas supplies and gifts for next year.  If you buy gifts ahead of time though, don't forget who you bought each gift for, and don't forget where you put them!  (Sticky notes work well!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 9

9 - More decorating with frugal finds.  Last year at this time, all six of us were living in one hotel room (by choice!).  Decorating space was hard to find, and we were on a budget.  These glass bulb ornaments that I got for $.25 at the thrift store found room to come home with us after that experience, and now they fill a large vase and brighten up a corner of our house.  They serve three purposes; they add color, they remind me that we don't need a lot of "stuff" to live happily, and they remind me to keep my priorities straight.  Big jobs for humble old ornaments!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 8

8 - Use an old photo album as an address book.  I keep an alphabetized list of all the people we correspond with at Christmas in an old photo album.  I write their current address in pencil in the space next to the picture, and I put the most recent picture we have of them (usually their most recent Christmas photo-card) in the photo keeper slot.  It keeps me organized in the midst of the Christmas chaos, and it comes in handy too when my husband can't remember a name!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 7

7 - Use up the eggnog.  I use the last eggnog in the carton to make Eggnog Scones.  The first time I tried doing this (over 10 years ago), I really was trying to use up the eggnog, and found a recipe on the back of the eggnog container.  They were SO GOOD that I wanted to make more, but I had thrown out the container without thinking, and the recipe with it!  After a few years of trying, I finally adapted a scones recipe to get that eggnog flavor I was looking for, and now (here comes another confession!) I actually buy the eggnog just so I can make the scones.  At least my intentions were good in the beginning!  :)

(Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesdays hosted by TammysRecipes.com yet?!?  Go visit!)

Christmas Challenge - Part 6

6 - Reuse Gift Bags and Wrapping Paper.  We (the adults in the house) reuse these same gift bags every year for each other.  The kids get wrapping paper on their gifts, and if the paper survives the gift-opening experience, we save it to use again.

Christmas Challenge - Part 5

5 - Use paper clips to hang ornaments.  If you already have a surplus of paper clips around your house, don't bother buying those cheap ornament hangers (that never last anyway).  Just reuse a paper clip by twisting it around until it turns into a hook.

(Hey, I never said these ideas would be earth-shattering!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 4

4 - Turn old Christmas Cards into Gift Tags.  After Christmas is over, and the decorations are all put away, I sort through the Christmas cards we received and put aside any that we can reuse as  gift tags.  I look for small pictures, with extra space to write on.  Then the girls and I cut them out neatly and store them away for next year.  Sometimes we tape them to a package, and sometimes we punch a hole through the tag and attach it to the package with a ribbon.  A simple, practical idea (that I borrowed from my Grandma!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 3

3 - Decorate with Frugal Finds

I use this kind of decoration as a filler in spaces that need a little color, or just to have something different than is in that spot the rest of the year.  For this one, I borrowed a hand-made bowl out of my kitchen, and filled it with cones (that the girls picked up on a walk last year) and red glass ornamental bulbs (I got 50 miniature ones in the after Christmas clearance last year -- for $.25!).

Christmas Challenge - Part 2

2 - Reuse paper towel tubes to wrap Christmas lights on for storage.  This idea not only reuses the cardboard, but it makes decorating the tree a little easier.  The tube full of lights is easy to pass around the tree, and the lights don't get tangled up like they do with other methods we've tried.    

Christmas Challenge - Part 1

My challenge to myself during this Christmas season:  find at least 25 ways I reduce, reuse, recycle, or am otherwise frugal in ways that are specific to Christmas.  (This should be fun!)  :)

1 - (Free) Artificial Tree

I confess.  We usually buy a live Christmas tree.  This year, circumstances being what they are, I was seriously considering having the kids create a tree out of green construction paper and sticking it to the wall.  However, our wonderful neighbors came to the rescue and offered us one of their artificial trees.  Everyone is happy!  The girls got to decorate a tree, Mr. Adorable says "Oooooh" every time he sees it, and I gained a new appreciation for my husband (who usually strings the lights every year).

Our neighbors' generosity in letting us reuse their tree saved us a bundle of money, and I don't have to take it to get it recycled in January, either!  :)

Banana Surplus

Buying bananas is always an adventure for us.  We go through a lot of bananas in our family, and we all like to eat them when they have a little bit of a greenish tint to the peel.  What makes it interesting is that we only go grocery shopping once a week (at our military commissary, 40 minutes away).  Most of the time we get lucky, and we can get pounds and pounds of mostly-green bananas that will last almost a week, but occasionally we have to buy yellow ones.  (I know, horrible, isn't it?!?)  While I am grateful that we CAN buy bananas, no matter what stage of ripeness they have reached, those rapidly ripening yellow bananas often don't get eaten.  And I HATE throwing away food!

Freezing them whole didn't work, and I don't have a food dehydrator...yet.  So I cut them into slices, arrange them on a plate, and stick them in the freezer.  When they're frozen, I transfer them to a freezer bag (or container).  My favorite banana bread recipe calls for 3 mashed bananas, so I try to keep them three bananas to a bag.  The frozen slices thaw quickly when I'm ready to bake, and they work great for using in smoothies, too!

(Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesdays hosted by TammysRecipes.com yet?!?  Go visit!)

I Am Thankful

I am thankful that when things happen that we don't expect, God is faithful in ways that we don't expect.

And I'm thankful that we can't see what's coming, either.

God is good!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cabinet Locks

When we first got these cabinets, our two oldest kids were toddlers.  They knew not to get into things that were off-limits, but we have two identical cabinets.  One is used for adult things (like electronics that we'd rather not have to look at every day) and the other holds kids' things (like puzzles).  It was very confusing for two little girls when the forbidden cabinet looked so much like the accessible one.  Our simple solution was an elastic ponytail band wrapped twice around the handles of the forbidden cabinet.  They couldn't get it open even if they tried!

We recently (hmm, about 18 months ago) returned to using this "lock".  The difference is that now both cabinets are locked -- one with those same electronics, and the other is now full of big kid puzzles, with all those fascinating, brightly colored pieces of cardboard.  The girls are all capable of opening these simple locks, and it takes very little effort to replace them when they're done doing puzzles.  

We've only had two only issues with these locks.  On occasion, I have been summoned to open a cabinet door...for my husband, who couldn't get the elastic band off by himself!  The other issue is that when Mr. Adorable, who is 18 months old, finds one of his sisters' ponytail bands laying around the house, he brings it to one of us and wants us to put it on a cabinet handle.  

Those kinds of issues I can deal with.  :)

Cheap Haircut

Before

After

I cut my own hair for the first time!  :)  I cut my girls' hair a few months ago, and it was SO easy that I thought, Hey, why not try cutting my own?  I looked up some different methods online, and found three that I wanted to try, so I started long and worked up.  (And no, I didn't change the color.  It's all lighting and a different camera.)

1st method:  After washing my hair, I combed it all straight up and put a ponytail in at the top (center) of my head.  I combed the ponytail straight up, grabbed it as high as I could reach and cut about 8 inches off.  I took out the ponytail and combed out my hair again, but didn't like it.  It was layered, just like the "how-to" article said it would be, but the longest layer looked like I hadn't cut anything off.  So I tried the second method.

2nd method:  I flipped my hair upside-down and combed it all out, then cut straight across.  I combed it all out (right-side-up again) and it was shorter, but still not right.  On to the third method!  (Good thing I started with REALLY long hair!)

3rd method:  I parted my hair straight down the middle, going all the way down the back of my head, and pulled all the hair to the front.  I cut some more length off to make it easier to manage, then cut both sides evenly at the length I wanted and made sure the two sides matched.  I then pulled the top layer (all the hair above my ears) up out of the way and combed out the underneath layer.  I cut it about 1/2 inch shorter, and combed everything down together.  Done!  And I like it!  :)

Color-full Cans

Crayons never stay "nice and neat" in their boxes in this house, nor do they ever stay in one piece.  My solution is the Crayon Can, a huge old coffee can, washed and re-used for over 6 years now.  

Colored pencils used to at least make it INTO their box, but they were always getting broken in the process, until I introduced this cheap storage solution -- the Toddler Puffs can.  And I'm not admitting how long I've had THIS one!  :)

Behind Cupboard Doors

I have these wonderful sturdy shelves in my cupboards, but they are SO deep that any food that I store on them gets lost in the back of the cupboard.  So I spent about $7 on 6 ice cube storage bins at Walmart, labeled them with masking tape and a Sharpie, and now I have customized, easy to use organizers for my canned goods.  I keep my sushi supplies, canned soups, and my "I-don't-feel-like-cooking" staples in them, and I can tell at a glance if I am running low on anything.  More importantly, I can get to them easily without re-arranging the entire shelf!  It may not be pretty :), but that's why we have cupboard doors!

(Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesdays hosted by TammysRecipes.com yet?!?  Go visit!)

Accidental Air Freshener

Today we discovered yet another side-benefit of letting the kids put things away when we get back from the grocery store.  Earlier in the week, I asked one of the girls to put the box of dryer sheets on top of the new box of laundry soap in the laundry room, which she did.  Yesterday as I was working on laundry, my littlest helper (18 months) knocked it off, and since my hands were full, I left it where it fell and forgot about it.  This morning, after the heater had come on a few times in the night, the entire downstairs smelled wonderful...like fresh flowers.  The scent was strongest in the laundry room, and I finally found the box of dryer sheets where it had fallen -- back down in a corner, on top of one of the heating vents.  And I'm thinking about leaving it there!

Don't Fold That Towel!

We have quite a collection of hooded towels for the kids.  Instead of spending hours a week folding towels, I just stuff the clean kids' towels in this hamper.  I got the hamper for a dollar at a garage sale, cleaned it up, and lined it with a spare Army-issue laundry bag.  :)

Fill 'er Up!

With two adults and four kids in the house, I do a LOT of laundry.  If I stay caught up, (which rarely happens, of course) I do an average of 2-3 loads a day.  Which means that I go through a LOT of dryer sheets.  I save the used ones in an old gift bag hanging in my laundry room, and when it gets full, I transfer them to a bean bag cover.  This bean bag cover (pictured) is completely filled with them, which makes it pretty heavy to drag around, but it is SO comfortable, and it smells great too!

My Not-So-Secret Stash

I keep what used to be a secret stash of cash hidden in my closet.  It wasn't too secret, since my mom and my neighbor know where it is, but my husband didn't know it even existed, and that's how I wanted it.  :)

I collected $20 bills until I had at least $200 in my stash, and I'd add more if I had it.  I didn't tell my husband about it because he gets his own cash out of our account when he needs it.  It was essential, however, that my mom and my neighbor know where it is and how much is in it, because my secret stash exists for the sole purpose of replacing car seats for all four kids in an emergency.

When my husband is away, I am IT.  So, for back-up, our neighbors have temporary Power of Attorney Guardianship and Medical Guardianship paperwork for our kids, and my parents (who live thousands of miles away) have a similar set of paperwork for permanent Guardianship.  That way, if something were to happen to me while my husband is unavailable, the kids would go to someone that we know and trust (and they LOVE!) until either my parents could get here, or my husband could be brought home to take over.  

What does that have to do with replacing car seats?  Imagine that "something happening to me" involves our car, with all four car seats in it, and they are rendered unusable.  Car seats are not cheap to replace, especially when you have to do it four at a time!  I keep that stash of cash on hand so that whoever takes care of my kids will have one less thing to worry about.  In exchange for the huge responsibility and sacrifice they would undertake in a worst case scenario...it's the least I can do!

Oh, and that not-so-secret stash?  It got raided once for groceries this past week before our replacement credit and debit cards arrived.  So, now that my husband knows where it is (yes, I CAUGHT him raiding it a second time!), I gotta think of a new hiding place!  :)

$153.83

I like to re-use things whenever I can, and these old peanut butter containers have worked really well as change jars!  They're plastic, so I don't have to worry about them breaking if they get dropped, and they don't get unmanageably heavy when they're filled with coins, either.  

These particular change jars came in very handy a few weeks ago when we began to run low on cash.  I took them in and converted all of our coins into "paper money" (as our kids call it), and we had $153.83 worth of coins!  I know people who throw away pennies instead of going to the trouble of storing them.  The coin counting machine told us that we had 1563 pennies -- which is well worth the trouble of storing them, if you ask me!

A Lost Wallet

We didn't have much when we got married 12 years ago.  Our living room furniture was borrowed from a friend, and those last few days before each payday...well, you'd usually find us eating with my parents.  My favorite Bible verses in those early days were Proverbs 30:7-9:  "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:  Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."  My husband and I both worked full-time, didn't have kids, drove an old Honda, and rented a little duplex.  And we were happy and content!

Fast forward 12 years to where we are now.  We are now a single-income military family, and I homeschool our four kids (ages 7 and under).  We have two cars, and we own our own home.  We are still happy and content, but I have also learned a lot along the way!

I love to organize, and I am constantly going through our house de-cluttering and getting rid of things that we don't really need.  I also love to bargain shop, and I especially love the challenge of seeing how much I can shave off of the weekly grocery bill.  I thought I had a pretty good system going, until my husband lost his wallet a few weeks ago.  We had a limited amount of cash on hand while we waited for our credit and debit cards to be replaced, and I learned a lot more about being thrifty while we waited!

I read through a lot of blogs over the past few weeks, and collected quite a few ideas for saving money and living more simply.  Some I had already implemented in my own household, and some were new to me, but they all helped to inspire me to start this blog...my own little collection of money and time saving ideas.