Make-It Monday

Good evening!

Remember those bananas I was set on turning into banana bread two weeks ago? Well, I finally got around to it today! At first I was afraid that I had let them sit too long but it turned out that they were perfect!

I found a super easy recipe (don’t worry, I’ll share) and had all the ingredients on hand, since I bought them two weeks ago. Each batch requires 3 overly ripe bananas, I had 10. I decided to make a day of it and invited a couple of women over and one of them happened to have a banana left from a packed lunch so we figured we could probably make do for 4 batches with 11 bananas. We were more than right.

Here is the recipe!

Cream together 8 tablespoons butter (an entire stick) and 1 cup of sugar

Stir in 2 beaten eggs and 3 mashed bananas

Slowly mix in ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Fold in 1/3 cup of mix-in (walnuts etc)

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes

See, super easy! Also essentially fool-proof, I know because I unintentionally tested it out several different ways.

Our first batch we used walnuts as our mix-in, and I used 3 eggs instead of 2. I actually just realized as I was typing out the recipe here that it says 2 eggs and not 3. I used 3 for every batch, oops. I used a pan that made 4 mini-loafs and we cooked it for 30 minutes at 350 and a toothpick came out clean. That batch was nearly perfect.

The second batch mixed in halved cranberries and a couple of spoonfuls of flax-seed. I decided to use a brownie pan as my mini-loaf pan was still in the oven and it was while I was pouring the batter into the wells that I realized we had forgotten bananas. What?! Who forgets bananas when making banana bread? Apparently me. We went ahead and baked it anyway for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick came out clean. We tested some while they were still warm with a smear of butter and they were delicious! I may have found a new recipe haha.

The third batch we had decided we would just use 2 bananas and then use a bruised apple. We found some caramel chips in my pantry and decided that caramel apple would be delicious! Turns out I can’t be trusted to be in charge of ingredients while socializing as we missed the salt and baking soda, and we ended up using 3 bananas. What a mess. The resulting bread was so moist and dense that it reminded me of a bread pudding. We sifted some powdered sugar over the top to help pull out some of the moisture. The flavor was amazing but the consistency left something to be desired.

Our fourth batch we finally did make one with just 2 bananas, and all of the other ingredients were accounted for (including an extra egg). We added in about a cup of chopped blueberries. This one is the only one that I haven’t tasted, but I look forward to having it for breakfast tomorrow.

The fifth and final batch used up the last 3 bananas and about a teaspoon of cinnamon. The other ingredients (excluding eggs) were measured perfectly and included in the batter. It is of course delicious. One of my favorite sandwiches is banana and peanut butter but for whatever reason I had never used peanut butter as spread on banana bread. I had purchased whipped peanut butter yesterday while grocery shopping and smeared a bit on a slice and it was heavenly! If you haven’t tried it, you need to.

I still have a ton of mini-loafs left, even after everyone took some home and my dog stole one off of the counter. I am going to look into the best way to freeze them because there is no way that I will be able to eat all of this before it starts to spoil.

Baking things like banana bread serve several great purposes when trying to improve your finances.

1. I used bananas that might have been tossed if I wasn’t looking for ways to save
2. I used up several ingredients that were just sitting in my pantry (caramel chips, a bag of sugar, walnuts) before they had a chance to go bad
3. I used portions of things that were sitting in my fridge or pantry that may have gone to waste otherwise (cranberries, flax-seed, baking soda, salt)
4. I was able to purchase the needed ingredients without feeling guilty because I knew they would be used completely (eggs, butter)
5. I made a ton at once, practicing money-saving time-management as well as knocking out food prep. We will have homemade banana bread for months
6. I had a day full of fun for the cost of the ingredients, we even snacked on cheese and crackers and I was able to use up the ends of several small blocks of cheese and the ends of boxes of crackers that way too!

Today was so much fun! I was also mindful of clean up, so we used two pans, one mixing bowl and mixer attachment, one mini spatula, one scraper, two cooling racks, a knife, 3 measuring cups, 3 small bowls,  and 1 measuring spoon. We just rinsed the missing bowl and scraper between batches and wiped any crumbs out of the pans before re-greasing them. Clean up was a cinch!

This recipe proved to be more versatile than I could have imagined, I look forward to playing around with it in the future whenever I find that I have fruit nearing its end. It will also be great for those odds and ends of things used in other recipes, such as nuts, chocolate chips, small candies, etc.

You can also adjust it for health concerns or dietary restrictions very easily! I didn’t use a cup of sugar as the recipe calls for (on purpose, unlike all of our other ingredient “variations”) I used a low-calorie baking blend that is made with sugar and stevia and claims that ½ a cup can replace a cup of sugar and I found the batches I sampled to be plenty sweet. I used organic whole wheat flour, but you could also use rice flour to create a gluten-free option. Like I mentioned, I am excited for the possibilities that could come from this simple recipe.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Monday! As always, I’ll see you tomorrow!

Morning Monday

Good morning!

This is going to be short and sweet today, I generally have Monday’s off but I have to go into work today so I’m a little short on time.

Mornings are an odd time of the day. They are either really inexpensive or they cost a ton. Here are some habits that we have been practicing to help us cut the cost of our morning routines.

1. Eat at home. Even if you just pack a breakfast to go, you will save a ton. I get breakfast from a drive-thru on mornings I have to work particularly early as a pick-me-up and it’s generally around $7 for a meal. That’s not a lot, but if I were to do that each day that I work it’s an additional $35 a week. I can get a loaf of bread, a bunch of bananas, a carton of eggs, a box of clif bars, milk, and a box of cereal for under $25 and have a variety of healthier options for breakfasts and mid-morning snacks. Even doing that and treating myself once a week I would still come in under $35 and would have more breakfast foods at the house than I could consume in a week.

My husband and I had a long-standing tradition that was born the week we were married that we would make breakfast together on the weekend. Once our income grew we left that behind to eat breakfast out as a treat. Now that we are trying to cut back we are reinstating that tradition. This past weekend we had coffee and sweet potato pancakes. It was delicious! We stayed in, talked and laughed, and enjoyed a slow morning in our pjs. We used a box mix that I had purchased a couple of weeks ago and I even got the dishwasher loaded and set to run between flipping them. We saved money on gas, on purchasing food from a restaurant, and lowered the stress of the day by just having a slow morning at home.

2. Coffee. I love coffee. I have at least a cup or two a day. It’s easy to justify the need for caffeine during a busy work week but is it just as easy to justify the cost? Last week $30 of my $100 cash budget went to Starbucks, and I used up the last of Christmas gift cards and I used one of my free coffee rewards. Yikes. I have a Keurig at home and several boxes of k-cups. I have travel mugs and I even have paper cups with wraps to keep you from burning your hand. I just need to start using it all regularly. I have always made coffee to take to work once or twice in a week and the rest of the time I just bought it. This week I only have $4 left on my Starbucks card, so I’m challenging myself to satiate my caffeine needs at home. One of the things that I purchased with the gift card I received for signing up for card 6 was a set of coffee syrups. I have found over the past year that I love coffee from home when I use a splash of coffee syrup and then top up with milk. I also end up using my milk that way instead of letting it spoil in the fridge.
3. Lunch. Obviously if you are going to save some money by packing lunch then that has to start at home and probably in the morning. I find this to be a great way to practice money-saving time management in the mornings so that you don’t feel too over whelmed. Let’s say you are making toast and coffee with a side of fruit for breakfast. When you get in the fridge to get out your milk and butter, also get your lunch meat and cheese. Drop your milk off at the coffee pot and take the rest to the toaster. Pull bread out for toast and your sandwich. Pop your toast in and while it toasts make your sandwich. Then start your coffee and while that is brewing fill up your lunch drinks and pick your sides. Yes, it will probably run making breakfast a couple of minutes longer but it will save several minutes on getting stuff back out that you just had out to make breakfast. Plus, once you are done you can just sit and enjoy your breakfast knowing that your lunch is ready to go.
4. Save your PJs. Instead of tossing them in the hamper in the morning, set them aside and wear them again. You will save anywhere from a load of laundry per month to 3 or 4 depending on how many times you re-wear them. Even just once will save you laundry and thus save time, water, soap, and electricity.
5. Towels. If you are comfortable re-using your towel once you save all those things again. I understand if you aren’t, just be aware that the option is there. For anyone with longer hair that may use 2 towels to shower, I challenge you to properly hang your hair towel to dry and re-use it. I personally don’t want to re-use my body towel so it goes in the hamper post shower, but I do re-use my hair towel for most of the week. Also, if something spills in the house reach for your “dirty” towels to clean it up. Does your shower door leak in one spot? Re-use your last shower towel to collect the water instead of using a fresh towel. Knock over a glass of water? Reach for a dirty towel to sop it up.
6. Kitchen towels. While we are on the subject of towels, I recently found myself reaching over a kitchen towel to grab a paper towel to clean up a spill in the kitchen. What?! As soon as I realized what I was doing I stopped and grabbed the kitchen towel and used it for the mess. That’s what they are there for, and using them in such ways will save you a ton on paper towels. Even a two pack of generic paper towels is around $4! Plus they are small enough that you can put a small hamper in your pantry or laundry room and just toss them in with a regular load of towels or whites.

 

Well, I’m off to finish getting ready for work, but I hope that you have found at least one way to help you save either time or money in the mornings. Tips? Feel free to share them below!

 

As Always, I’ll see you tomorrow.

 

Frantic Friday

Anyone else unimpressed with this Friday the Thirteenth?

I’m starting to dread pay-days because it just feels like a reminder of how far in over our heads we really are anymore. I used to love pay-day, I would get up and look at our bank account balance, get excited and go splurge on something. Now I’m trying to figure out how to spread what we already have in the pantry to feed us for another week so I won’t have to go grocery shopping.

Something I had tried previously to build a bill payment routine was to make a list of the bills due each week and how much of each check should roll over into the “pot” for the next week. Well, I did that for this month and while it looked okay on paper, it’s so tight in reality that I’m starting to enter panic mode.

Date	Projected income & expenses (original plan)	Actual Income & expenses	Difference
1/6	Income +$1,000 Phone -$215 Electric -$310 Cash -$200 Groceries/Household -$150       Balance +$125	Income +$1,130 Phone -$212 Electric -$309 Cash -$236 Groceries/Household -$250 Pets -$85 Gas -$30   Balance +$8	Income +$130 Phone +$3 Electric +$1 Cash -$36 Groceries/Household -$100 Pets -$85 Gas -$30   Total -$117
1/13	Income +$1000 Vet Plan -$60 Car Insurance -$190 Cash -$200 Groceries -$150   Balance +$400	Income +$1140 Vet Plan -$60 (auto on 19th) Car Ins -$189 (auto on 18th) Cash -$107 (so far) Groceries -$25 (so far)   Balance +$759 (so far)	Income +$140 Vet Plan $0 Car Ins +$1 Cash +$93 (so far) Groceries +$125 (so far)   Total +$359 (so far)
1/20	Income +$1000 Card 4 -$515 Card 1 -$100 Cash -$200 Groceries -$150   Balance +$35
1/27	Income +$1000 Card 2 -$30 Card 3 -$30 Subscriptions -$25 Cash -$200 Groceries -$150   Balance +$565
2/3	Income +$1000 Rent -$1400 Cash -$200 Groceries -$150   Balance -$750
	Balance +$375

 

The biggest downfall of my original “plan” is that it doesn’t include anywhere near all of our expenses, but will spend all of our income. We are apparently very close to not making it this month in terms of bills. Part of me knows that if worst comes to worst I can drive out to our other bank and “borrow” from that savings account. But I really don’t want to have to do that. Ultimately I want to try to keep our spending to the bare minimum this week and make our card 4 payment early. I guess we will see. If we end up scraping bottom then I can still go and transfer those funds.

Part of me says “do it now! That way you don’t miss it!” and part of me says “you need to wait and do it last-minute, just in case!” and right now I’m not sure which part is yelling louder. The fact remains that the bill is due. Honestly, we can put it off another month, but then we get hit with a huge interest fee! Around $350, and that will be so hard to rebound from.

It’s all about your attitude though, right? Maybe if I make it like a game to see what I can scrounge together for the week it will be fun. Tonight we had a “date night” in with a $5 pizza and a movie we already own.We still had fun. We laughed and joked and enjoyed our time together and we didn’t have the added expense of eating out.

This will be an exciting week either way. Either we will do amazingly well and end the week on a high note, or I will end up spending a couple of hours in the car shuffling money to cover us.

What do you do when you find yourself short for the week? Money stretching tips? Comment below.

I’ll see you tomorrow for Savings Challenge Saturday! Find out what we decided to do. Are we going to power through, or switch it up? You can find out tomorrow!

$10 Target Tuesday

Oh my gosh! What a day…

I toyed with several ideas for this Tuesday. Originally I was going to do “Tip Tuesday” but I couldn’t think of a tip compelling enough to focus even a short blog on it tonight. So, I did something different.

Last week during a shopping trip to target, I was able to earn $15 in free gift cards through promotions. Today, armed with $10 worth of free gift cards, I headed into Target to splurge.

I started with a free coffee from Starbucks that I had earned through their app. I’m sure at some point I will do a Starbucks Saturday with tips on saving at Starbucks, because, who doesn’t want to read that?! Haha. But for now, the gist is that you load a virtual gift card on the app and pay with it when you purchase anything from Starbucks. You earn stars for every purchase and get a free drink for every 125 stars. I received several Starbucks gift cards for Christmas and in using those I earned the stars that I was able to redeem for a free drink. So it was free to me, all around. Not much tastes better than free coffee.

Armed with my $10 I headed to the dollar spot, Bullseye’s playground, whatever they are calling it these days. They had several cute items, but most of the ones that I liked were $3-$5 and I really felt obligated to get more than 2 items.

I love Target. It’s a big joke in my family that I live there. Tonight I spent 3 hours walking around Target trying to spend $10. I hit my step goal for the day, but other than that, it was kind of depressing. There were plenty of cute $5 items that I liked, several that I even had in the cart at one point or another, but I just wanted more.

As I have mentioned, I have an office supply obsession. I probably spent half of the three hours there in the office supply area. I picked up pens, markers, washi tape, plenty of items that I liked. I picked a pack of 120 sticky notes that are shaped as conversation bubbles as my first “for sure” item, they were $1.49. The brand I picked was buy one get one 25% off, so I looked through the rest of the area. I found a folder in one of my favorite colors for $0.99, which would make it $0.75. I need something to keep all my little blog idea paper scraps in, so this will come in handy.

I then found clipboards. They were mostly $10! I haven’t looked for one recently, so I would have never guessed that they were priced so high! I found a very basic one that I will have fun decorating to make my own for just $1.99. It was also 10% off on Cartwheel, so that brought it down to $1.79.

I have a bulletin board in my office that I haven’t been able to use because I didn’t have push pins, so I decided to check them out. There were several boxes that had fun designs, even ones with animal busts! But, I wasn’t going to pay $6 for 6 push pins. No way, no how. So, I kept looking. I found the plain clear ones but they were $3.50 for a pack of 100. I’m all for being economic, but in my office there isn’t enough room on my bulletin board to even use 100 push pins. Plus, I wanted something that was more fun that just plain clear plastic. I found a pack of 54 push pins in six assorted designs for $2.99 that I think will be perfect! They were also the only item I picked that wasn’t on sale, clearance, or a discount.

With $2.87 to spare, I headed over to health and beauty. Originally I was contemplating a couple single use face mask packets, but at $1.97 each, I couldn’t justify it, especially when I have several full-sized facemasks in my bathroom cabinet that I could use for a night of pampering. I looked at some lip glosses, other beauty products, and just couldn’t find anything I loved in my price range. Then I saw a fingernail polish on clearance! I was able to get 2 and still come in $0.03 under budget!

I paid for the tax out of my lunch money, it was just $0.50.

I realize that there are times when even $10 is more than you can allot for a splurge. I also realize that it looks like I’ve been splurging a lot, but in reality, I have only spent $0.50. I just picked $10 because that was what I had. I am hoping to also do a $5 splurge in the future, maybe even a $2 or $3.

I made it a point to not pick consumables as any part of my purchase today, save for the free coffee. Spending $3 on a bag of potato chips that would last a couple of days will bring nowhere near the enjoyment that two different colors of nail polish will and they cost the same.

So, here is my receipt. It was far harder than I thought it would be. There have been times when I stop into Target and drop $200 in an hour, and walk out just to feel buyer’s remorse all day. Today, while I had fun shopping, it really opened my eyes in terms of spending money on myself. Yes, a chocolate bar would be a fun treat, but I would rather have something that will last longer and provide a use. I feel like portions of my purchase were more “mini investments” than “splurges” today, like the folder and push pins. The clipboard is not only a functional item, but it will serve as an afternoon of relaxation and crafting when I decide to decorate it.

In total, while I only spent $10.50, I saved $7.47. That makes a difference, but also makes me wonder about how much I spend on these types of items on a day-to-day basis.

I’m sorry that this is going up so very late, my latest post ever; I never anticipated it would take me that long to spend $10 in Target.

Tomorrow’s blog will be featuring Target too, and then hopefully we can switch gears. Thank you for reading, I’ll see you tomorrow for Wash Wednesday.

 

Market Monday

Welcome!

Alright, so to start my weekly shopping I try to get a plan together of what I will need and want; I decided this week to take it a step further and really get a sense of what I already have.

I inventoried both our chest freezer and the freezer that is attached to our fridge to see what all we had. I was surprised to find that we had a lot more meat than I thought we did! I want to try to use up the meat that we have before it goes bad and to also help create room for future freezer-stocking trips. I plan to type up both lists and post them so that we can cross stuff off as we use it, or write in items that we add.

I cleaned out the fridge so that I could take anything that needed tossed right away instead of letting it sit and stink up the house.

Then I sat down with my lists and started to pick out meals. I picked five dinners and one baked good for the week. Lunches I kind of make up as I go and there are plenty of options in the freezer as well. Since we had so many meat options in the freezer, I was able to make a fairly short list for the store.

I broke my list down into categories based on the store departments. I find that I spend less when shopping from a list no matter what, but I spend even less if I avoid aisle I don’t have any business in. I keep a rough tally at the top for money spent so that I also know when I need to stop shopping or start putting stuff back.

I shopped at Martin’s today and I have one of their bonus cards. I saved $11.19 with my bonus card, and $1.00 with a coupon I found in the store. They double coupons up to $1.00, so even though the coupon I found was actually for $0.55 they added that $0.45 as an additional savings. They also offer a discount on gas based on points you earn in the store! I am up to $0.40 discount per gallon, so I will have to use that before the end of the month.

I didn’t really save a ton of money or get a ton of food, but I did make smarter choices. I was looking for fruit to take with lunches and saw that they had 5 pound bags of apples on sales for $5. It was a better deal than any of their bulk apples, and cheaper than oranges etc this week. So I purchased a big bag of apples. This also helped me to steer clear of the snacks in the check out aisle. It seems like no matter what I end up hungry by the time I finish shopping, but instead of grabbing a candy bar I promised myself an apple in the car.

I purchase predominately organic food. I know that causes our grocery bill to be higher than if I was to shop for the cheapest deal. I believe that our overall health starts with our food, and while I will grab junk food from time to time, the bulk of what we eat is good healthy food. I would rather spend an extra $0.10 per pound on bananas than $40 on a prescription. I also feed our pets a fair bit of “human” food, and I will only feed them organic. Their bodies are not nearly as tolerant as ours are with consuming pesticides etc and since they rely on me to make the best and healthiest decisions for them, I am going to do that. If we were really tight on money, I would eat the cheapest of the cheap and my animals would still eat organically. It’s not something I will budge on.

That being said, I do still shop for good deals. I was looking at butter in the cooler of the “health foods” aisle and it was $7 for a pound of butter. I passed it by and figured I would check the regular butter cooler. I found Nature’s Promise organic butter on sale in the regular cooler for $3.99 a pound. I opted for cage free eggs that were on sale for $3 over the organic eggs that were $4.98 a dozen. They had some that were $5.79 a dozen! My milk that is normally $3.99 was on sale 2/$6 so I bought two. I will consume it before it goes bad, and spending an extra $2 this week will save me $4 next week.

My bananas from last week have taken on a strange hue, so I will be making banana bread out of them as my baked good for the week. I purchased flour, eggs, and butter to do so on my shopping trip today. I am hoping to start doing things like this more often instead of just eating them for a couple more days and then tossing them out. I also found a partial container of cranberries in the fridge, so I will be doing one loaf as banana cranberry! I’m excited to bake!

I need to scrub my fridge shelves, yikes… This was before shopping, and after. I had $100 when I went in, and I came out with $2. You can see I got a fair amount of food for that price, especially for two people. I also had 3 jugs of juice, 4 more gallons of water, and three bags of dry goods that got put in our pantry. The only freezer food I purchased was ice cream.

Hopefully in the future I will be able to do a grocery “haul” with coupons, sales, etc, and really stack the savings and show you guys how to make that fun. For today, I just wanted to share my current process. It is in no way perfect, and will certainly improve with time but for now it is mine.

If you are having problems with over-spending in the store, these steps would be my recommended first course of action:

1. Inventory what you have. You don’t necessarily have to keep a running inventory, but if you look in the freezer and see a chicken breast, see Panko in the pantry, and some fresh veggies in the fridge, you have a meal. That can help you omit both over-spending and wasting food that you already have.
2. Clean your fridge regularly. It’s easy to open the fridge and “see” food but have nothing to eat because it’s spoiled or you haven’t looked in the pantry/freezer for meal ideas.
3. Plan a list of meals. Use stuff that you already have and then start a list of things that you will need. This will be the start of your shopping list. Have pasta sauce and pasta? Add a meat and side to your shopping list. One meal down!
4. Make a shopping list. I find it very helpful to divide it by department, but try it out and see what works best for you.
5. Shop with your list in hand, a pen, and a way to record spending. You can tally the top of the list or simply use the calculator on your phone. I’ve done both and they work about the same.
6. When you get home, fight the temptation to just unload the car and leave the bags on the counter, put them away. You will be able to find things easier, and you will feel better for having less counter clutter.
7. Repeat on your next shopping day.

 

Another tip that I would like to share but am not sure on where to place it, plan out your “ingredients” so that they have multiple uses. Example, I bought a pound of carrots. I have both a stew and a stir-fry on my meal list for the week that will use carrots. The rest I will chop into carrot sticks for lunch, and ultimately the dogs will get a few. If I had only had stew on my list, I would NOT have added carrots. There is no way that I could eat that many carrots with my lunches for the week; the carrots would have gone to waste. Be sure that if you add an “ingredient” food that you have a plan for the full amount that you are purchasing. If not, find a smaller quantity. If you can’t find a smaller quantity, then find a substitute.

With that, I leave you for the night. I hope that you have a lovely evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow for a currently un-named post. Haha!

Splurge Saturday

Good Morning!

For every year of my adult life my dad and grandparents have sent me money for Christmas. Some people might think that it seems impersonal and odd but I love it. My husband and I have a tradition of going shopping the day after Christmas to use some of our money and to score the best deals! We did go this year, but that is not what this particular post is about.

I bought several things from Shutterfly (another post, another day) and that left me with about $120 to spend. I wanted to make the most of it, but also treat myself to things that were wants versus needs.

I have a make-up buying problem. I have one of the largest collections of cosmetics I’ve seen, it doesn’t make me proud and I am truly cutting back on buying Make-up. One of my favorite things to buy and use, are make-up brushes. I have spent enough money on them that it really pushes me to take very good care of them.

My first purchase was this brush cleaning tool, The Brush board, from The Brush Bar. I also have their namesake Brush Bar to dry my brushes after washing them and love it! It was the quality of that product that made me confident in this purchase.

The Brush Board retails on www.getbrushbar.com for $25. I purchased mine through IPSY (again, another day haha) for $12 with free shipping. I haven’t used it yet but I am looking forward to using it on my next brush cleaning day.

Black Friday my husband and I looked at curling irons at Ulta. I had been looking into getting one for several months because I don’t have one, or should I say I didn’t have one. I was debating between a curling wand and a curling iron but decided that I would feel safer with at least a partial clip than no clip. I found several I liked, but even at Black Friday prices couldn’t justify spending money from our regular budget on one.

I was looking online at some of Ulta’s Christmas deals and saw that not only was one of the irons I looked at on sale; they were also pairing it with a FREE straightener! I’ve been using the same Conair straightener for probably 8 years and while it doesn’t need replaced, it is always nice to have options. Plus my Conair is a 2 inch straightener, and this one is 1 inch.

Both of these items are going to make great additions to my hair tool arsenal.

I love all things peppermint! I received one of Ulta’s 3 in 1 peppermint scented smoothies a couple of years ago as a gift and just finished using it up! It was a much bigger bottle than these are, but I feel like these are a much more convenient size for my shower. They are a 3 in 1 product, meaning that you can use them as a shampoo, body wash, or bubble bath; but i just use them as  a body wash.  The versatility of these also means that they are a great product to pop in the shower of a guest bathroom, which is where one bottle will go in our house.

They normally retail for $6 each, but I found them on a sale that allowed me to buy two and get two free! So all four were just $12!

I am all for “FREE” but I always try to work out the math on it first. Buy one get one free is really just 50% off. Buy two get one free is 33% off, and so on. It works the other way too, if you have body wash on your shopping list and have already allotted the full price and then see it for 50% off, grab two and tuck the “free” one away to help save later.

I  purchased these online in the same transaction that I purchased the hair tools, so I qualified for free shipping! I am also a rewards member through Ulta and had some points saved up, so I was actually able to get all four smoothies for free!

These last two aren’t anything special. I had my eye on these mini Nalgene bottle for lunches for several weeks, but couldn’t bring myself to pay $10 for it when the full-sized versions are only $11. When I saw that Nalgene was 20% off on Cartwheel (Target app. Don’t worry, a Target haul blog is coming!) I went back to look and they had a ton on clearance. Even though I only had the 20% off on my coupon, I was able to combine it with a clearance one and it ended up being a flat $5!

I also have a problem with buying office supplies, so I try to only get new stuff if it’s a “splurge” or a need. I really have to watch myself because I will toss wants into the cart from time to time, and then have to go and put them back. Awkward, right? I was in that section getting my husband some sticky labels for work and saw this pack of mini legal pads, and decided to splurge on them. I have been using far too many of my lined post-its for blog outlines, and they are much too expensive to continue purchasing if I am just going to waste them. As luck would have it they were 10% off on Cartwheel so I saved $0.20 on them!

• The Brush Board/retail $25/paid $12
• Hot Tools hair tools/retail $114/paid $53.59
• Ulta 3 in 1 Smoothie/retail $24/paid $0
• Nalgene water bottle/retail $10/paid $5
• Junior Legal Pads/retail $2/paid $1.77

 

I had a blast shopping for good deals, and am excited to have some new goodies! The money I had left over went to our new car battery (go back and read Money Monday on January 2 if you missed that adventure).

If you have a trick for saving money when it comes to splurging, leave a comment below. Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you tomorrow when we stack my results from this week against my previous numbers in Summary Sunday.

Thrifty Thursday

Let me just start by saying that what you are about to read is not even remotely what I had planned for tonight. I had this grand vision of going over all the magical ways that I’m “thrifty” when I planned my month out a couple of weeks back. Then it all came crashing down when I asked my husband “how are we thrifty?” the other day. He said “I’m not even sure what that means. Are you planning on going to the thrift store to see what you can get with five bucks or something like that?” While that might be a fun blog later, it wasn’t the blog I had in mind for tonight.

Then later I asked my mom what I did that was thrifty. She asked me what being thrifty meant to me and I said “you know, when you do stuff to save money. Like, make something, or re-use it somehow.” Eloquent and wise, I know. As she started pointing out things around my house that she thought fit that, I found a reason that each one wasn’t. “I bought that from the store,” or “that’s not thrifty, it seems pretentious.” (For all of you curious readers, I had repainted spoons to use as a decoration because I had too many when I received them as a gift.)

I was nearing a meltdown. How can I possibly not be thrifty?!

So, I sat and I thought. I decided that I actually am thrifty, just not in big showy ways.

– I use anything and everything as a bookmark (gum wrappers, receipts, random bits of paper) instead of buying them.

– I save and reuse my plastic bags from the store. They are great for wrapping fragile things when you move or want to send something to a friend, cleaning trash out of the car,  taking stuff to work and school for lunch or even just snack breaks, they are great for  holding a change of clothes. Etc.

– With the exception of most of our bookshelves (any we bought new were inexpensive) almost all of our furniture is second-hand.Seriously, our couches, our coffee tables, our kitchen table . . . very few pieces are things we didn’t get second-hand.

– I designed our bed and my husband and I built it. I’ve really wanted a new bed lately, and the other evening I decided to dismantle ours and reassemble it. I love it. I’m thinking about adding a coat of paint, it would completely transform it.

– We use shoe boxes for storage purposes. We even have some that I wrapped in wrapping paper after we were first married. I wanted cute storage bins but we didn’t have the money. I bought a roll of paper at the dollar store and wrapped the boxes and lids separately so that we could use them instead. We also have storage bins now, but there are a couple of original shoe boxes mixed in.

– I hoard stuff I think I may be able to re-use. Not a great quality, I understand, but thrifty none the less.

– I save jars. I know, how 1930s of me. I store craft supplies in them, the occasional bacon grease, and I use them to create memory jars (more on that another day) and other crafts.

 

I wondered if maybe I was thriftier than I thought, but just had the wrong definition in mind.

Merriam-Webster defines thrifty as “1: thriving by industry and frugality, 2: growing vigorously, 3: given to or marked by economy and good management.” I wasn’t particularly keen on this definition. They also state that “thrifty” is in the bottom 40% of words in terms of popularity, while “frugal” is in the top 20%!

Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “Showing a careful use of money, especially by avoiding waste.” This definition, I love! I can relate to it, I can see it in myself, everything about it screams thrifty means to me.

– I have reusable lunch containers, and several reusable shopping bags.

– I buy veggies that I know I can use multiple ways throughout the week. I have had spinach at least once daily all week, chopped into soups and pasta dishes, fresh on sandwiches, even just a leaf at a time in place of chips. My dogs love spinach too, so they get first dibs on wilted leaves. We finished our bag of spinach for the week! Same for my pound of carrots. No waste!

– We eat leftovers.

– We use a dry erase calendar and shopping list instead of wasting paper. I take a picture of our shopping list with my phone and then I have it on hand at the store.

– We use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.

There are all kinds of things that we do that fall under Cambridge Dictionary definition, but I want to grow our thriftiness this year to include things under my definition. I want to re-purpose things, I want to find multi-uses for items that don’t get much use, I want to save money by making the most of what we already have. If anyone has any thrifty ideas or recommendations on way to increase my thriftiness, please leave a comment!

I’m sorry this blog wasn’t very exciting. Honestly, it gave me some new personal goals and possibly a new motto.

Self reflection can be hard, and falling short of the image that you held of yourself can be even harder. I’m looking forward to growing back into the thrifty person that I once was over the course of the year.

 

To everyone starting a new financial journey this year, thank you for joining me! For any of you that are getting paid tomorrow, chin up! Stay strong and stick to your budget!

 

Fur-baby Friday is coming at you live tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Workin’ Wednesday

The irony of not posting my “Workin’ Wednesday” blog until late because of the timing of my shift at work is not lost on me, I promise.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I work in retail management. I am full-time and while my paycheck varies very little from one week to the next, my schedule varies wildly. Having such a random schedule doesn’t allow for much of a routine to develop and can lead to time being wasted more often than not.

To make the most of my time, I use a daily planner. While I would like to say that I am an avid planner I’m truly just a sticker lover haha!

I start by putting in my work schedule, then personal health and fitness stickers (calorie and hydration trackers at the bottom, scale at the top), then other appointments and things that are time specific (my canceled vet apt etc). I recently added blog stickers towards the bottom to help me remember to set aside time for planning and writing out blogs, I have a gas pump sticker so that I can record how much I have spent on gas (magically still running on the $24 I put in last week!), a workout block so that I remember to get up and move a couple of times a week, and then I just fill it in with pens and other stickers as the week goes on. These 3 days are finished, with the exception of Wednesday, so it’s hard to get a feel for the process this way. Don’t worry, I’ll do a time management blog in the future. It does help me get things done around my work schedule though. Notice Tuesday I got off at 1:30p so I have things like “Take trash” and “Post Office” and “Make Dinner” but on Wednesday I got off at 5:30p so I just have “Blog” in the evening. If I hadn’t thought ahead about the lack of time I would have on Wednesday, I could have easily pushed off Tuesday’s chores until “tomorrow” and then not had the time to complete them.

How will this save me money?

Do you ever forget a bill? When library books were due? A planner can help! Also, just looking at your activities for the week can help you shave a little here and there in many ways. If the post office is next to the library and your books are due then go to both places the same day, verses making a trip to pay a bill across town and then driving to the post office. You will save in gas, time, and potentially late fees or convenience fees. Does your electric company charge you $5 to make a payment online or over the phone but the building is just 3 blocks from your favorite coffee shop? You could pay for your coffee with the money that you would save by making that payment in person!

One of the biggest “convenience” fees that we encounter and don’t even bat and eyelash at is through the fast food industry. Want to save some serious money? Pack your lunch! I’ve started packing my lunch and am able to eat for a week at a fraction of the cost.

First things first, get excited about it! If you aren’t, then packing lunch will turn into a chore that you hate. If you hate doing it you will either grow to resent it or just stop doing it all together and go right back to spending much more money than you need to on lunches.

These are my tips for keeping your packed lunch fun and keeping you interested in keeping up the new habit.

1. Splurge. What?! Yeah, you read that right. Splurge. Find a lunch bag that you love; find a lunch system that you feel will meet your needs, get a couple of ice packs and a new thermos. I purchased several of the fuel lunch system boxes at Target a few months back. They retail around $16 each but are frequently on sale or Cartwheel (yes, this will definitely come up in a future post!). I think I paid around $12 each for the big 3 part systems, I found the matching sandwich box on clearance for around $4 and I bought a couple of the small double compartment tubs full retail price (maybe $3-4?). I have several small drink containers (10-14oz) for juice and such, you can find them as inexpensively as a couple of dollars or you can get them for $15+ and have them be insulated etc.

I got my cute little panda gel pack at the dollar tree! How cute is he?! I have other small ice packs as well, but I love having a couple of gel packs for days when I pack drinks as they can contour to the container or I can stick them between different containers in my lunch box without taking up too much room. Great to have around the house for bumps and scrapes too

I’m sure that there are at least 4 people rolling their eyes saying “you can pack lunch just fine in cheap containers” and I would say “yes, you certainly can. But they won’t last.” I have several different styles of food containers in my home.  For example, I have some Ziploc containers I picked up at Wal-Mart for guests to take leftovers home in last Christmas, I got a big variety pack for under $10 and had several left over. I use them from time to time but most of my lids are chipped, I have dropped them and they have literally shattered. My fuel system has been dropped several times and doesn’t even have a chip or scuff.

There are times when you have to spend a little more initially to save more down the road; I feel that items you are using daily fall into that category.

2. Get fancy. Sure, a plain ol’ PB&J will get the job done and may be just what you need from time to time, but is it really going to convince you that you don’t want to go through a drive thru on the way home? I pick one or two different lunch meats for the week, I get a couple different fruits and veggies, I get bread and tortillas. For lunch tomorrow I have a turkey and havarti wrap with spinach and seasoned avocado. Guess who is already excited to unpack their lunch box tomorrow? That’s right, ME!

I also love the versatility of packing drinks in a container. I can get two different jugs of juice at the store and have drinks at home and at work for a couple dollars a week. I would need several packs of juice boxes or pouches to measure up ounce-wise and that could easily cost more than $10. Having a variety helps break up the monotony too.

3. Treat Yo’self. No, really, do it. I have a handful of peppermint chocolate candies in the compartment across from my carrots, the other day I had 4 Oreos. I feel like if I get a little treat with my lunch that not only am I more likely to stay on track while trying to eat healthy, but I’m not going to feel like packing lunch is such a chore.

4. Don’t neglect your other meals. My shift tomorrow means that breakfast at home would have to happen around 5am. I’m not going to be ready to be awake and functioning at 5am, let alone make and eat breakfast. So, I have my banana and Clif bar ready to go and my coffee cup is sitting empty next to the coffee pot. Not only am I able to skip having lunch out but I’m not going to feel compelled to pull into a gas station for a sugary candy bar and soda that won’t actually sustain me through ‘til lunch. If I was working a late shift I would replace my banana with a cup of soup or something similar to help replace dinner. Just another way to save a couple bucks 🙂

You spend all of this time earning your money; hopefully you found at least one tip here today to help you keep a little extra of it in your pocket.

See you tomorrow for Thrifty Thursday!

Tasty Tuesday

Just a short little post today 🙂 

One of the hardest things to change is how you spend money on food. It’s by far cheaper to eat at home than it is to eat out, but who wants to slave over a hot stove all day?! Me, sometimes. Haha. This is one of my quick and easy go to meals for weekends or lunch at home. You can make it fairly inexpensivly, mix it up with add ins, use it as a meal or an entree, and if you are eating alone you’ll have leftovers! 

Here’s what you’ll need

•A box of Mac n cheese and the ingredients to prepare it (I used velveta)

•A can of tuna (you can also use a can of chicken, diced ham, or shred some roasted or rotisserie chicken, or skip meat all together for a vegetarian friendly meal.)

•A veggie to add in (my box boasted it had broccoli in it, but it was 5 dehydrated florets so I just grabbed a handful of spinach from the fridge. You can use frozen, fresh, or canned! It’s up to you)

I steamed my spinach over my pasta in a metal colander, one of my greatest ideas ever! You can use that method for fresh veggies, frozen can be added to your boiling pasta, canned should be added with your meat and cheese so they don’t become over cooked. 

It took about 20 minutes give or take, and I got two big servings out of it! You can make it as inexpensively as a $1 or $2 and get two meals out of it, or use it as an entree and feed 4 people! With the versatility, you can please a wide range of tastes too. 

Hope you enjoyed my short, savory, Tasty Tuesday! Tomorrow is Workin’ Wednesday.