Meet my motherboard

I've been couponing for a few years now.  When people find that out, the #1 question is : "How do you keep track of all that food so you're not throwing out food that's been in your freezer for a while?"  My answer "I plan all my dinners."  I only plan the main course nothing else.  I have an erasable monthly calendar that I call my "Motherboard".  I put EVERYTHING on it.  Chores, baths, laundry, etc.

I have a little cheat sheet of dinner ideas I look over & place that dinner on whatever day I choose.  It takes me about 15 minutes to complete the monthly menu.  That's it.  I do have an erasable board next to the freezer, but it hasn't been updated in months :(, but I know approximately what's in there.  I even add left overs (LO) or pick (everyone choose what they want cereal, quesadillas, etc).  This seems to work for us, if I'm running somewhere my husband can start dinner.  In no way is this set in stone, but at least we have a goal & aren't arguing about "What's for dinner?" & it's cuts out the "I don't know what to cook, let's go eat out" syndrome, which save us money, too.

So try it out.  Start with a list of dinners your family likes to eat.  Then plan a weekly dinner menu.  If you're adventurous, try tackling an entire month.  BTW, I have been know to skip a month or two due to sheer busyness.

Remember saving money on food is great, but if you're throwing food away because it's too old, you're basically throwing money in the garbage!  Tell me your menu ideas, too!  I'd love to hear about it.

Homemade tub cleaner

This handy recipe comes from my Titus 2 class.  I love this class!  I love the ladies!  They are so informative!

Difficulty: Easy

1/2 C liquid soap blend

1 tsp borax

2 tsp baking soda

1 3/4C very warm water

Pour water int stainless bowl.  Add soap blend & stir well.  Add other ingedients & stir until grainy.  Store in a squeeze top conatiner (use an old ketchup bottle).  Shake before using.  Keeps about 4 months

*** LIQUID SOAP BLEND ***

1/4 C finely grated glycerine or castile bar soap

3/4 C boiling water

Mix flakes with water until dissolved.  If hardens, warm it up & add water.

Keeps 4-6 months.

Homemade Taco Salad Bowls

My family has an addiction to Mexican, we can eat it at least once a week, sometimes even twice.  This week I decided to change things up a bit & have taco salad.  I even made the taco salad bowls.  Now this my friends is super duper easy.

1. Ball up a paper towel.
2. Cover ball with aluminium foil.
3. Spray tortilla & foil with spray oil.
4.  Broil until desired crispiness.

Seriously, that's it.  Add your meat, beans, rice, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cheese, etc and enjoy!

Thrifty Tip: Your tax return is not a savings plan!

So you've been reading my blog for a while now, learning ways to save money.  You can save money thousands of different ways.  But the number one way to save money is to take a look at your tax return.  Yep, you read that right.  LOOK AT YOUR TAX RETURN!  Don't be afraid of it.  It is about YOU. Carefully, study where the numbers from your W-2 go on the tax forms.  Most people get a huge tax return.  It could be from a number of different sources: 

• Earned Income 
• Making work pay
• Additional child tax credit
• Federal income tax withheld from your paycheck

While the first 3 bullet points you have no control over you do have control over #4 - Federal income tax withheld from your paycheck.  Do you know that most people never change their filing status?  Do you know that you're in essence giving the government a loan for FREE?  They don't add interest into the calculation for your refund.  Why give them more money than you need to.

Check out the IRS website for their withholding calculator to see if you are paying too much.  If you are, indeed withholding too much, get a new W-4 form from your HR department.  In addition, you should check out your state's website in the event that you are paying too much to federal you may be paying the right amount to your state and we don't want a unexpected tax payment when you file your taxes.

Now comes the hard part, saving that money.  I read a lot of finance books.  I love Suze Orman, David Bach & Dave Ramsey.  They all say the easiest way to save that money is to make it automatic.  Go into the HR department get their form for an automatic deduction.  You can choose to send to a saving account, IRA, etc.  The less time you have that extra money in your checking account the less likelihood you'll spend it.

As with any tax issue, check with your tax preparer whether you can benefit from a change withholding status.

And the couponing god's smiled

Did a quick trip to Safeway this morning.  Look what I got!  2 FREE boxes of hair color!  When the cashier hands you your reciept & those annoying little printed coupons - Just LOOK you might be overlooking something!

If it's FREE, it's for me.

This entire purchase was $3.67!  2 stores Rite Aid & Walmart, basically the only stores in town.  Rite Aid is still having their 75% off toys so picked up 2 play dough for .25 each & 4 packages of Up 2 U gum for FREE.  Use $1/1 coupon from the 1/1/12 SS.

Walmart that's another story.  Aside from my youngest literally screaming through the store, I was still able to pick up 3 FREE Oreos use coupon $3/3 Nabisco Honey Maid, Newtons, Ritz Crackerfuls, Teddy Grahams, Wheat Thins, and Triscuit from the 1/8 SS.  The BIC & Brawney were printable couples that are no longer available.  The pens will be donated to my children's school.  The dog bones were a whopping .32 each.  It's been said that you can make money on it, but our Walmart prices are too high.  So I thought paying .32 cents each is a good deal, so maybe our dog will eat those instead of my organic chapstick.  Anyone want a dog?  Go here to get the coupon.  It does say good on any pack, but the coupon prints with no size restriction.

Have fun couponing!

I don't do windows.

I don't do windows.  I have this crazy idea that if you clean your windows they should be clean, with no streaks, lines, or film.  With children & a dog in the house, I seem to clean the windows weekly.  Thank goodness for winter, the rainy dreary days make the likelihood of me noticing the window smudges next to impossible.  But I do have a way, taught to me by my step father, to help me with my window OCD & it's thrifty too. 

Crumple up a sheet of newspaper & use it with your window cleaner.  You save money on paper towels.  Everyone can find some kind of newspaper, they're everywhere.  It makes your hands a mess, but who cares you're going to wash them anyway. 

I use this with mirrors, windows & even car windows.

Yes I am using the name brand stuff.  I got it cheap.  Once I am finish with this bottle I am going to find a homemade version, but that will be in another post.

Homemade speghetti o's

It's cold here.  We needed something to warm us up.  I searched my pantry to no avail.  Nothing sounded good.  I was remembering back to my childhood days & what we would eat when it was cold.  What food always made me happy on those cold days?  One word "Spaghetti O's".  I thought they were to die for.  But we didn't have any, because there haven't been any coupons for "Spaghetti O's".  Then I thought:

Q:  What are spaghetti o's? 

A:  Small round noodles & tomato sauce. 

Simple enough I can make that.  If I can make homemade sourdough bread & can whip up some noodles in spaghetti sauce.  But instead of opening a jar of sauce I looked through my pantry and found something close to spaghetti sauce, Progresso Tomato & Basil Soup.  I picked it up for 10 cents a can (after coupons of course).  I was given some round noodles & added them to the soup.  I prayed that it would turn out & the children would eat them.  Oh boy did they eat them.  Even my husband said that this was way better than Chef Boy R Dee's!  Tell me what you think.

Homemade Spaghetti O's

Ingredients

1 Can of tomato soup

1 to 1 1/2C of noodles

Couple of Tbs of water (if needed)

Put everything in a pot & heat until noodles are done. 

Hey I only spent $11.31 & got all of this!

I have a confession "75% off toys" signs ALWAYS makes me turn my head just to see what is there.  I'm usually done with Christmas shopping by September.  I'd rather have the bills trickle in when I know I have money than wait until December & try to tackle the stores with every Tom, Dick & Harry & have a huge bill waiting for me in January.

I went to 2 of the 3 big stores here in town.  First Rite Aid.  They have 75% off all Christmas items & I was able to pick up a few things for next Christmas or birthdays or just because I love you gifts.  All the toys were under $5.  I got a lighter (for camping) for .29 no coupons!  Zippo lighters are $10.29.  You get back 1- $5 Ups rewards & 1- $5 rebate.  Easy peasy if you can remember to go online & enter your rebate.

Second Safeway.  I'm loving my Safeway right now.  We have new management & they are constantly marking things down by 50%.  I was able to make money on a tub of wipes which helped pay for the tea.  The tea, BTW, was 50 cents each ($1 if your store doesn't double).  I'm stocking up on peppermint because mint helps indigestion & upset stomachs.  So I'll be going back for more.

You can make your own mint tea, by growing it too.  That is super, super easy.  I guess I'll have to blog about how to make your own tea another time.  Let me know if you find any great deals.

Confession of a wandering mind

Welcome to the wonderful world of my wandering mind!  Is it any wonder why I couldn't sleep last night?  This is just some of the random thoughts I had while my sleep eluded me.

How much can one kid poop?

What am I going to make for dinner?

I think I should pick up some Jerry Lewis movies & introduce the kids to a national treasure.

Oh, I should introduce the kids to The 3 Stooges!  No, they already know how to inflict pain why give them more ideas.

If mortgage rates are at 4.25% how much would that save us?

What is APR & why it is more than the original rate?

I should start watching Suze Orman more.

If Suze Orman was president, . . . Apples, we need more apples!

Could you imagine if Suze was president?  A Suze smackdown for the entire US!  "Dee-nied!"

Seriously, how much should a child poop?  Is he normal?

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

HOT! Jenny-O turkey sausage coupon

Rare &  hot Jenny-O turkey sausage coupon!  Print it now & tell me if you find any good deals!



http://www.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15493&zid=yn07&nid=10&bid=011008012373ba28de26418&cid=16773009

Irish eye's are smilin'

My Irish ancestors would be so proud of me right now.  I stepped out of my box & made homemade hash browns.  Why?  I'll answer that with another question, "When did Ore-Ida hash browns costs almost as much as a gallon of gas?"  Seriously, it's frozen potatoes with some preservatives added for your enjoyment.  That's it, potatoes.  I could pick up a 10lbs bag of potatoes for a couple of $$ less than a 16oz bag.  10lbs!  That's a lot of potatoes.  There something to be said for the versatility of those little guys.

Everything I did was "old school".  My food processor shredding attachment broke a while ago, so I grated the potato by hand.  It took me about 5 minutes to get everything ready.  And it tasted so much better than the preservative-filled spuds found in your grocers freezer.  BTW I make homemade fries too, but that's for another day.

Homemade Hash Browns

2 medium potatoes

2 tbs oil

Pam Spray

Salt, pepper & garlic powder

Onions or peppers

Spray Pam in pan & add oil.  Heat up pan.  I chopped some onions & added to the pan to give the hash browns even more flavor.  Peel & grate potatoes.  Press potatoes between paper towel to remove some of the water.  Cook to desired crispiness.

Bacon, bacon, bacon!

Oh my!  I'm in heaven!  Today @ Safeway they are doing $5 Fridays for 2 of my favorite things, bacon & Diet Dr Pepper.  So of course, I picked up Oscar Myer turkey bacon (3pk) for $5 & all Pepsi product (24pk) is $5, & a coupon fairy had come and put peelies all over the Diet Dr Pepper, which made it $4!  Both are STOCK UP PRICE!  If you can pick it up, do it!  $1.67 for a package of bacon is awesome, $1.67 for turkey bacon is even better.  Depending on where you live, be sure to check that you have the same deals.



Ask and ye shall receive!

So I started following this blog called Coupon Connections http://www.couponconnections.com/, because I heard from a friend that she list companies contact information so you can comment on their products or ask for coupons.  She calls the segment "Thoughtful Thursdays".  

This friend has received a lot of coupons for free items, just by asking the company.  I could never bring myself up to ask for coupons, let alone ask for coupon for free items.  I thought it was inappropriate.  But I've been thinking a lot lately about our finances, I am able to barter at the farmers market & garage sale with ease then why couldn't I ask a company, whose product I use or have been wanting to, to see if I could get a couple of coupons so I could try their product?  So I put on my "Big Girl Panties" and stepped out of my comfort zone & emailed 8 companies.  I nervously waited for their reply. 

I did get a couple of "Thanks but we don't give out coupons" or "We're all out, check back again later".  Bummer, oh well I'll try again later.  But look what I did get!  Just by asking!

FREE MISSION PRODUCTS!

And if you saw my last couponing post I bought 2 tubes of Eucerine lotion, which I used at Target with their $1/1, so I was able to double up on my coupons & get each lotion for .69 cents!  Go here to see that post  http://thethriftyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-target-transaction.html .