A Smaller Budget

Fruity Cereal Bars For A Quick Snack

2016-03-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

If you live with a toddler then cereal, granola bars and other finger foods are probably part of your every day life. My toddler loves granola bars more than just about anything, and if it were up to him we would go through several boxes a week. We compromise by making these delicious cereal bars together - it is a project easily handled by a 4 year old with adult assistance and is a fun way to learn about measuring, melting, mixing and ingredients that make up our food.

Cockamamie Farms Fruity Cereal Bars

3 Tablespoons Organic Butter

30 Large Marshmallows (be sure to count them out - using a whole bag makes a gooey mess)

4 Cups Cascadian Farm Organic Fruitful O's Cereal

2 Cups Sweet Home Farm French Vanilla with Almonds Granola

1/4 cup Raisins

Grease a 13x9 cake pan or casserole dish. (We use Grape Oil for this step).
In a large stock pot, melt butter on low heat. Use this small amount of butter to show your toddler how to stir slowly and carefully. Your pot will become warm near the rim, but should not get so hot that your toddler will be injured should he/she bump it while learning to stir.
Add all 30 marshmallows to the pot, counting each one as you go. Stir to coat with melted butter, then let rest about 1 minute before stirring again. Let rest & stir every 1-2 minutes until marshmallows are melted. Talk about the process of applying heat to melt something with your toddler.
During your breaks of stirring the marshmallows measure your cereal, granola and raisins and pour into a large bowl. Mix well with a separate spoon (you don't want that marshmallow goo on it just yet).
Once marshmallows are melted down completely, pour your cereal mixture into the stock pot. Grownups will need to stir at this step, as it takes some effort to coat the cereal completely.
Pour your marshmallow cereal mix into the prepared pan. Cover with a sheet of wax paper. With your toddler, press the cereal down firmly until it is packed evenly into the pan. Let rest for 15 minutes until the marshmallow has cooled enough to free from the wax paper easily.
Grownup step: Using a knife, cut into your choice of squares or bars.

A whole pan of cereal bars is a lot to handle at once (although these bars are so delicious that your child will try). After cutting, I pack about 2/3 of the batch into tupperware containers and keep them in the freezer to eat at a later date. The rest I cover and leave on the counter until they disappear.

Toddler Talking Points:

What are ingredients?
Is the stove dangerous? When can we use it?
Why is it important to pick healthy ingredients for our project?
Will we keep these treats for ourselves, or share them with others?
Do we like cooking together? Why or why not?
Why do we measure things?

Steals and Deals: Get a copy of my newest book for FREE!

2016-02-19T09:20:00.001-08:00

I am VERY excited to announce that S is for Serial under my author name D.K. Greene is FREE to download on Amazon Kindle through this Sunday (2/21/16). The novel has already begun climbing the charts, and is sitting at #14 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Paranormal Fiction as of this morning.

Hundreds of copies have already been downloaded through this promotion, and I am hoping to give away an additional 300 copies before the end of the week. If you have been waiting for "the perfect time" to download S is for Serial, this is it!

Download your copy here: S is for Serial, Kindle Edition

If you enjoy the book, please do go back to Amazon to leave a review. It will help future readers find my work to see if it is the right book for them.

Thank you everyone!

Read for Roughneck! Help Raise Money for Medical Care

2016-01-17T09:19:00.001-08:00

Read for Roughneck! Learn how your love of books can help provide needed healthcare for Denise Kawaii's husband.

View this email in your browser

Mr. Kawaii, aka "Roughneck", crafting at his workbench.

Please Read To Raise Money for a CT Scan and Meds.

It has been a long few months.

Mr. Kawaii, AKA "Roughneck", began to have flu like symptoms this summer following closing our family owned store. His illness has gotten progressively worse, with symptoms that would make even the most staunch horror fans squirm. Let's just say that his body has stopped properly digesting food, he has lost nearly 60 pounds since August, and although the doctors suspect Crohn's Disease there hasn't been any marked improvement with treatment (Western or Natural medicine - we've tried just about everything).

Roughneck is currently on leave from work and spends most of his time resting, researching and having lab tests done. Even with insurance his treatments are expensive and we are on the cusp of losing the little financial stability we have left. We have been selling what we own of value to try to keep up, but it is a hard race to win. As an example, the main medication Roughneck is on has a $1,200 price tag on the next 30 day refill. That is out-of-pocket as we have not yet met our annual deductible (Because, hey! It's January!).

We have been doing our best to keep this sob-story under wraps, but now it is time to swallow our pride and ask for help. I have debated doing a GoFundMe or similar fundraising campaign, but we live in a world saturated with people in need and I don't think it's fair to expect others to give something for nothing. The fact is, I write books and I would rather you get a book to read, give as a gift, or donate to your local library. At least then you get something out of the deal, right?

So here is what I ask. If you have already purchased, been given, or won one of my books (either byDenise Kawaii or D.K. Greene), please bump it up your "To Read" stack and if you enjoy it consider leaving a review on your favorite book buying site. If you have a friend or family member who likes to read, please let them know that my books exist. If you are a public library user, please ask your librarian to order a book in for members of your community to check out.

And if you haven't read any of my books, please do consider them the next time you are on the hunt for something to read. I've listed the titles to the right of this plea, so please feel free to click and research. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read most of them for free (and then I get a small % of your subscriber fee).

J acobsen's Books & More in Hillsboro, Oregon also has hard copies of most of these titles if you want to support a local store. They are closing next month, sadly, so if you've been putting off checking them out I encourage you to do so. They have been a wonderful supporter of me and many other local authors, and I am glad to count them among my friends in the book world.

Thank you so much for reading this e-mail, and for helping our family to do our best to get Roughneck back in good health.

S is for Serial by D.K. Greene

A tale of family, breakfast and murder. D. K. Greene is a new psychological horror author title under the /KawaiiTimes.com publishing banner.

Adaline by Denise Kawaii

A Sci-Fi adventure for readers 10 and up. Denise Kawaii delights in this tale filled with robots, mad scientists and clones.

A Giraffe in the Room
by Denise Kawaii

Medical Fiction for families who have experienced degenerative brain function. A heartfelt tale of life from the speculative perspective of Alzheimer's / Dementia patients.

Age/Sex/Location by Denise Kawaii

My debut novel, and where the publishing all started. A contemporary romance starring a troubled young woman, chat rooms and online dating. Perfect for anyone who was lonely in the 90's.

The Kawaii family on one of Roughneck's "good" days.

How to Downsize Your Living Space

2015-12-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

We have no shortage of projects going around here at any given time. From writing books to house projects, closing our primary business and dealing with medical issues, we've got a lot to do. But one of our biggest projects is to downsize our lives from our 1,400 square foot house to what will be our new home: a Tiny House on a 24' trailer.

Most of you are not planning on making such a drastic life change as we are, but the more I talk to people the more I realize that just about everyone can benefit from some sort of downsizing. Whether it is a closet that is bursting at the seams, getting ready for a move or a new addition to the family, there is almost always something taking up valuable space that shouldn't be.

What is downsizing?
The basic idea of downsizing is to reduce the amount of something that you deal with on a regular basis. This often takes the form of excess items cluttering shelves, closets and cabinets, but it can also come in the form of unhealthy relationships, a too-full schedule or anything else that seems to be draining your time, space or energy. In theory, downsizing is simple. Identify what you have too much of and get rid of it.

But how do I do it?
The nuts and bolts of downsizing can be terrifying. We, for example, are on a mission to simplify our lives to free our finances and improve our health. At present, we are living the "American Dream" in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. We have owned our own business for 5 years, so in addition to all of our daily living items we also have a ton of office equipment and inventory shoved in every corner. It is a mess! But we are committed to sloughing off the excess and getting to where everything we own fits on a 24' trailer, and inside a 13' storage unit. That means that we have about 900 sqft. of stuff that has to be sold or given away.

There is a lot going into our downsizing project, but we have picked up a few great tips that have gotten us through the panic of parting with our stuff. Maybe they'll help you clean out your own broom closet.

Identify Small, Easy Problem Areas
Everybody has a junk area of their house. It's where you drop the things that don't have a designated home, temporary projects that you plan on getting to later, bills you're trying to ignore, spare charging cables, toothpicks, and random bits of broken things you can't seem to throw away. The first step in downsizing is to find those stashes in your house and get rid of the clutter. Clearing out a junk drawer or organizing a dump-all shelf may only take you 15-30 minutes but it will give you an emotional boost and encourage you to take on bigger projects. You can do this!
Pick One Project
Whenever I stop and look around the house at the piles of toys, eBay listings, laundry, furniture, art, DVD's, gaming consoles... I have a minor panic attack when I try to figure out how we are going to get rid of all of this stuff. Where is it going to go? How do I know what it's worth? Should I just toss it in the yard and set it on fire?

In the larger picture of downsizing, you've got to put on some blinders. Ignore the bigness of your goal and simply pick one project. This week, my husband and I cleaned out our master closet. We spent a couple of hours going through each article of clothing. We had a pile for selling on eBay, a pile for donations, and a pile for giving away to friends. Any item that we decided should not return to the closet landed in one of those three piles. In the end, we emptied 2/3 of the closet and we both feel so great about what we've accomplished.
One In, Two Out
Downsizing doesn't have to be done overnight, and to do it right you should really take your time. If you are having difficulty getting started, simply make a promise to yourself that whenever you buy something new, you will get rid of two things you already own. Not only will this help to lesson the load of things you own in the long run, but you will be more careful about what you bring into the house in the first place.
Choose Quality over Quantity
When you are going through your things, you will often find that you have multiples of certain items. For me, it was kitchen utensils. I had so many different kinds of spoons, servers, strainers and other gadgets it was ridiculous. Whenever I had multiples of the same item, I decided that I would only keep ONE. I always choose the one that is in the best repair and is the most comfortable to use because chances are, that's the one I usually use anyway. As a bonus to this idea, when I had a drawer full of ladles, spoons and spatulas that were all in disrepair, I recycled them all and replaced them with a new single matched set. Not only does the new set look and feel great when I'm cooking, it takes up way less space than all the junk I had before.

The Casual Couch

2015-09-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

After 8 years of pets, parties and children our couch was looking pretty shabby. I wanted to spruce up our living room but there was just no way that I could afford to replace it so I decided to make some slip covers for the cushions and pillows.

I wracked my brain for how best to cover the couch since fabric can be so expensive as well. I was rummaging around my office for ideas and stumbled across my growing pile of my husband's t-shirts and pants that needed mending... and that's when inspiration struck. I could knock out two projects at once!

My husband's shirts were just the right size to cover the large pillows on our couch (with some modification, of course), and the four pair of ruined jeans I had in the pile were a great start to making durable, removable cushion covers that would stand up to our active couch life. And so the "Casual Couch" was born!

It's done! The cat loves it, and we do too.

I won't pussyfoot around - it was a LOT more work than I thought it would be going in. All in, I think I used 14 pair of the largest men's jeans I could find (I saved a load of money by picking up jeans at GoodWill with 50% off tags) and 10 t-shirts. I also have about 45 hours invested in the cutting, sewing and assembling of this couch. BUT, the end result was well worth the efforts!

Here is how I did it:

How the couch used to look.

Step 1: Gather a boatload of materials.

As I mentioned above, I used 10 t-shirts to cover our ten pillows and about 14 pairs of men's jeans for the cushions. The pillows were easy to figure out how much fabric I needed, but the cushions took a couple of extra trips to Goodwill over what I thought I needed originally. Do your best to measure your own pillows and cushions, but be aware that you may not get it right the first time.

Step 2: Cover those pillows!

Covering the pillows was pretty easy, and only took me a couple of hours to complete. Here is how I did it.

1) Lay out a t-shirt as flat as you can get it. Lay your pillow on top of the shirt and using pins to catch both the top & bottom fabric, mark where your seam needs to be.

2) Remove the pillow, and cut about 1/2" around the outside of your pinned area. Sew your 1/2" seam using a zig-zag stitch. You may find that sometimes the sleeve or neck cut of the shirt impedes your desired seam. A couple of easy fixes for this - some shirts I just trimmed the sleeve to size and sewed them shut. Shirts with low necklines, I left the neck hole on the shirt and covered the opening with a contrasting color of fabric.

3) Turn the sewn fabric inside-out and put it on your pillow!

4) Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Just some of the awesome shirts I scalped for this project.

Step 3: Start making a sea of denim fabric to cover your cushions.

1) Decide how wide you want your patchwork to be. I did my strips 12" wide, and as long as the pant legs would allow. Some pieces were only 8" because of their placement, some were as long as 30" because the jean legs were wide. I liked that I had so much variety in the lengths so that the "fabric" was broken up visually.

2) Start cutting! Pin your denim strips end to end. I cut up jeans 3 pair at a time and alternated color as I pinned my pieces together to make the fabric look more interesting.

3) Sew 1/2" seams.

4) Iron your seams flat and stitch them down. I sewed about 1/4" away from the seam and used a variegated orange thread on my bobbin so that the face of the fabric would have a colorful stitch against the blue fabric.

5) Once you have a long run of fabric, test fit it to see how many runs you will need to cover the width of your cushion.

6) Sew several runs together to make your fabric. Don't forget to iron and sew the seams between each run the same way you have been ironing flat and sewing the seams between each denim piece.

7) Once you have enough fabric to cover the top/bottom of your cushion, cut strips to the height and length needed for the sides. Lay the fabric on your cushion, inside-out, and pin the side pieces to your existing fabric. Remove from the cushion and sew! (Why don't I have a photo of this? I imagine it's because I couldn't hold the camera and pull my hair out at the same time.)

8) Pin and finish the hem for the back side of your cushions. I am tying the back of the covers with strips of leftover inseam cut from the jeans I used, so I didn't worry too much about the gap at the back.

9) Turn inside-out and put it back on your cushion!

10) Attach your tie straps to the rear of the cushion to hold everything in place.

Word of warning: This project is really going to be more work than you think it could ever be. But I promise you that the effort is worth it. The extra layers of fabric don't seem like much, but they make the couch so much more comfortable. Having truly removable cushions that you can throw in the washing machine without worry is 100% awesome. And if you want to add some foam between the cushion and your cover, just allow yourself some extra room to do so while sewing.

All in, because I purchased cheap worn jeans at GoodWill, only choosing those with 50% off tags, I spent under $50.00 on this entire project.

Storing Bulk

2015-07-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

One of the ways that we have saved money in the last few years is to cook at home. Many families do this to stick to their budgets but I try to take it a step further and make most of our grains/legumes based foods at home, too. I've spent a long time figuring out how to make a wide variety of dishes that start out as whole grains and beans.

A quick calculation in the grocery aisle makes it clear though that buying in bulk is the best way to pinch those pennies. Often there is only a few dollar difference between a 5 pound bag of something and a 10 pound bag... and the savings only grows when you get up to the 20 to 50 pound bags.

... But how do you STORE all of that stuff?

My storage solution: 1/2 Gallon Ball Canning Jars for storage, and a large glass jar with a mouth wide enough for measuring cups to dip in and out for items I am using day to day.

There are a lot of options out there for bulk food storage and you really have to do some research to choose the option (or combination of options) that works best for your home. Some of the storage ideas out there are inexpensive, some will take an investment to get set up. Here are just some of the things to think about when you set up your bulk pantry:

What are you trying to keep out of your food? Bugs? Moisture? Other people?
What kind of disaster might happen in your home that would damage the food? Flood? Fire? Tornado? Earthquake?
How long do you think it will take you to use the item? Do you need to vacuum seal it or freeze it to increase its shelf life?
How easy will it be to rotate your stock?

I did a lot of research and decided that I couldn't decide! While I was trying to figure out how I'd come up with the money and room for several Dry Food Vaults, I came across a 6-pack of half gallon jars at the grocery store. They were about $10, and looked to be enough to store the open bag of flour I had sitting in the pantry. I picked it up as a cheap interim solution, and figured out that I LOVE these jars!

One of my "Bug Out Boxes" of bulk food.

The half gallon jars are big enough to hold about 7 cups of dry goods. They have measuring marks on the sides, so you know how much you have as you're using them. They are made of glass so I don't have to worry about plastic degradation or chemicals leeching. With a jar attachment on a food sealer, you can even vacuum seal them to increase their shelf life.

I even found that I love the 6-pack box that the jars come in. I store the with six different bulk items in one box. This way, in an emergency situation, we can just grab a couple of boxes and have a range of food items at our disposal. Not all of the boxes are the same, but generally have a flour (white or wheat), a salt (sea or iodized), oats, rice, beans and sugar. In an extreme emergency, the jars even work for cooking in - just add boiling water, stir, and in time the beans, rice and oats will cook themselves.

The major downside to glass is that we live in an area where earthquakes can and do happen, so I am running the risk that the jars will fall from shelves and break, spilling the food. I've reduced this problem by also storing in large bulk 4 gallon food safe plastic buckets. Hopefully if we do have a big quake some of the stores will survive.

I am careful to always label each jar (I use post-it notes and tape so I can change them out easily) with what the item is and when I purchased it, so that I can reduce spoilage and confusion. This especially comes in handy with tracking the different salts and flours which often look the same even though they have different tastes and textures.

The most important part of storing your bulk goods is to find a solution that works for you, and to be consistent with it. Rotate your stock so that you are always using the oldest stuff first (First In, First Out!) and if there is something that takes you forever to use up, consider purchasing a smaller supply of it the next time around. Don't be afraid to try different sized containers, and try not to get so financially invested in a solution that you stick to it even if you don't like it.

I know that my solution may not be the right one for you, but I hope that it helps you on your journey to having a healthy pantry.

Vacation Feasts on a Budget

2015-07-21T08:33:00.001-07:00

After countless summers camping with family and friends, and coming home with WAY too much food, we have implemented a new system to keep us all on budget. Instead of us all just bringing food to share "banquet" style we have begun assigning meals (or a portion of each meal) to each person that we are camping with. It has worked out really well and has cut the food budget that we normally set in half.

Here is a sample of one of the plans we have used. Mr. Kawaii and I are responsible for part of two meals over a 4 day camping adventure with about 7 other families. We are feeding about 30 people per meal.

Friday -

Dinner:

Smoked Bacon "sushi" - A&J

Buffalo Chicken egg rolls - D&K

Potato Salad - J&R

Saturday -

Breakfast: Ranch Breakfast - S

Lunch:

Brats & Buns - C&A

Pasta Salad - A

Fruit side - M

Dinner:

Pass the hat for Pizza $$!

Sunday-

Breakfast:

French Toast - R&T

Bacon/Sausage: C&A

Lunch:

Hamburgers & Buns - M&D

Fruit side - M

Dinner:

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - C&K

Side dish - J

Monday:

Breakfast: S

Even though we are buying enough food to feed an army for each meal, the way it is split up makes it easy for us all to find the best deals, makes storing the food easier because we aren't trying to commingle frozen foods, cold foods and not cold foods in our cooler, and takes away the problem of only eating burgers 3 meals a day for 4 days.

This has been working really well for us this summer and I hope that you can implement it into your own vacation plans.

Trending Tiny

2015-07-14T11:16:00.003-07:00

It has been a couple of months since my last post here because, as often happens, life has erupted and gotten in the way. We've been making some big changes that will be great for our budget. Mr. Kawaii and I have reduced our overhead by moving our family business back home and although that is taking some time to adjust to, it is going pretty well.

We've decided not to stop there though - we have made the decision to downsize even further. We have committed to spending the next year downsizing our belongings. Sometime in the next year, we will begin constructing a tinyhouse!

Katrina Cottage, Ocean Springs (photo by Jeffery K. Bounds)

If you aren't familiar with the tinyhouse movement the concept is to take your family, reduce your belongings to the essentials that you need for basic living and comforts. Move it all into a space between 80 and 1,000 square feet. and move forward with more financial freedom.

We haven't finalized our floor plan yet, but we think we will build our tinyhome on a 30 foot trailer. We will be snug, but we estimate that the change from 1,400 square feet to under 400 will free up several thousand dollars a year to go toward purchasing property, travel, and becoming more financially free.

An example of a 355 sq. ft. tiny house by Molecule Tiny Homes.

Mr. Kawaii and I were considering building a custom RV to put on property last year, but we have come to realize for roughly the same cost as the travel trailer we would design we will be able to enjoy more traditional housing construction (insulation, real wood, real tile, etc.). The house will still be on wheels so we can move it with us, but will be more comfortable wherever we land.

I am very excited about this plan, and the freedom that it will open up for our finances.

If you'd like to learn more about Tiny Houses, some of our favorite shows to watch can be found on YouTube. Check out Tiny House Nation for a range of ideas about downsizing from a big house into a tiny house.

Cleaning the Pack and Play

2015-04-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

We are gearing up for a garage sale, and I am planning on selling the awesome Pack and Play that we used when the toddler was an infant. I have done my best to keep the fabric clean over the years, but with all of the outdoor events we go to and having it set up in our machine shop, I lost the war against stains long ago.

On a whim, I went to the Googles this morning to see if anyone else had found a better way to clean the Pack and Play than just wiping it down with a damp cloth and soap. after all of these years and all of those stains, Mommy and the Minister had the answer I was searching for!

I loosely followed Jaime's advice, putting 1/8th cup of my home made laundry detergent, a good slosh of distilled vinegar from the bottle, and sprinkling some baking soda into piping hot water as it filled my bath tub.

We have a large soaking tub, which allowed me to lay the mat almost all the way out in the water. If you don't have this much room, simply fold the mat in half. Make sure to flip it over a couple of times to get all sides clean.

After a half hour, I turned the mat and frame over in the tub per her blog posting's instructions. Although it was apparent that dirt was coming off of the Pack and Play, it didn't seem like just soaking was enough. So I agitated the tub for a few minutes by hand. After another 30 minutes the water was just... gross. But my mat was still fairly dark from three years of dirty hands and feet. I grabbed a washcloth and scrubbed the mat & rails with some more soapy water then hosed them all off and propped them in the shower to dry.

Water after the full hour was up. So glad to have gotten all of that gunk out of the fabric!

Now, I can't say that the pack and play is like brand new, but it is substantially cleaner than it has been in a very long time. It smells fresh and clean, too! Many thanks to MommyandtheMinister.blogspot.com for having the answer to my problem. I wish I would have thought of this sooner!

DIY High Efficiency Laundry Detergent Gel

2015-02-14T17:05:00.002-08:00

For the last couple of years I have been making my own laundry detergent. The batches are huge (approximately 250 loads per batch), the ingredients are cheap. and the entire project takes less than 20 minutes.

There are a lot of ways to make your own detergent. My recipe is for our High Efficiency washing machine, and there are also recipes out there for Septic systems and for dry powder soap if that is your preference. I like gel/liquid soaps more, so that is what this recipe is for.

The ingredients are pretty easy to find. I'm able to purchase all of the ingredients at my local grocery store for about $20, but if you can't find them in your laundry aisle they are also available at Amazon and I'll list the links in the ingredients list for you. Oddly, the items are more expensive on Amazon than they are at my local store - which is hardly ever true - so be sure to check the laundry detergent aisle before you order online. The Borax and Washing Soda boxes I get are around 60oz each, and are enough to make 2-3 batches of detergent, so pick up a couple extra bars of the Fels Naptha and you'll be set. 1 batch of detergent lasts our family of four close to 5 months, so three batches will get you maaany months of laundering.

Safety Tips:

Make your soap in a well ventilated area. The Borax and Washing Soda will clump in the box, so be careful not to inhale any of the dust when you break up chunks.
If you have latex gloves, use them.
If you are not using latex gloves, wash your hands frequently (between handling each ingredient) to avoid skin irritation.
Safety glasses are always encouraged.
Older kids can easily help with this project. Keep small children clear of the ingredients (they sort of look like snacks) and make sure everyone knows to keep their hands out of the ingredients.

For this recipe you will need:

A clean 5 gallon bucket
A large stock pot
A measuring cup
A cheese grater
A stir stick (I use a wooden painter's stick)
1 bar of Fels-Naptha Soap (around $4 on Amazon, or $1-2 at my local grocer)
Borax Powder (around $12 on Amazon or $10 at my local grocer)
Washing Soda (around $10 on Amazon or $8 at my local grocer)

Step One
Grate an entire bar of Fels-Naptha soap using a cheese grater. Please note that once grated this soap looks JUST like grated Cheddar Cheese so make sure everyone (especially kids) know that it is not to be eaten.

Step Two
Add the grated Fels-Naptha soap to a pot of water (about 10 cups). Put on low/medium heat, stirring occasionally until the soap melts. It helps to add the soap to a pot of water (instead of the other way around) to minimize bubbling. Also, a stainless pot would probably work best. I don't own one, so I use a nonstick pot.

Step Three

Add 2 cups of Washing Soda to the soap solution. Stir on low heat until fully dissolved.

Step Four

Add 2 cups Borax to the soap solution, Stir on low heat until fully dissolved.

Step Five

Put approximately 1 gallon of HOT water into your clean 5 gallon bucket. Not sure how much 1 gallon is? Just fill it about 1/5th of the way full.

Step Six

Slowly (too fast and you'll make bubbles!) add your soap solution to the 5 gallon bucket and stir.

Step Seven

Slowly add enough hot water that the bucket is approximately 4/5 of the way full and stir. It helps to add some water and stir, add some water and stir... just to make sure that it's mixed really well.

Step Eight

Put on a lid and let your bucket of suds sit overnight. The liquid will solidify a little bit and become a soapy gel. Use 1/8 - 1/4 cup per load. 1/8 cup works great for delicates that are relatively stain free. 1/4 cup works great for our family that includes a messy toddler.

Step Nine

Make sure to label your bucket! Tell everyone in the household what is in the mystery bucket and instruct them on how to use it with your machine.

Hints and Tips

This solution can be used as a stain remover. Just dip your stained fabric in the soap, let sit for a couple of minutes and then add to the wash.
If you want to add fragrance, add a couple of drops of your favorite essential oil.
If you are a scent sensitive family like ours, don't add any fragrance. The Fels-Naptha does have a smell, but it washes out when you do your laundry.
To increase fabric softness & remove foul odors from armpits and feet, add white distilled vinegar to your fabric softener dispenser in your machine (mine takes 1/3 cup). It will help to boost the scent removal and fluff your clothes.
If you notice your detergent separating, give it a quick stir. I stir mine about once every other time I do laundry out of habit and keep a stir stick in my laundry room for this purpose.

Out Of The Box Taco Helper

2015-02-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

In theory, I love the Hamburger Helper Taco stuff. Tacos are one of my favorite foods, and making a taco dish with crumpled chip topping just feels like a good idea. I mean, the image on the front of the box is enough to make me swoon.

But it's never as good as I want it to be.

Enter the D-I-Y mason jar taco helper which I *think* I adapted from Chickensintheroad.com (I know I've adapted the new Lasagna one from here). This stuff absolutely tastes the way that the Hamburger Helper Taco stuff should. It is so good, in fact, that we use it as a single dish, as a salad topper, and of course as taco filler.

Make Your Own Nacho Taco Rice Helper:

You will need:

6-10 quart sized mason jars (wide mouth makes it easier to get ingredients in and out).
Brown Rice
Powdered Milk (I use 1%)
Corn Starch
Pre-made Taco Seasoning (I buy from the bulk section, but you can also make your own here.)
Cumin (optional if you want a little more spice)
Garlic Powder
Sugar
Dried Cilantro
Single-serving packets of Doritos chips (I used Cool Ranch and Cheese)

To assemble, add the following to each jar:

1 cup Rice
2/3 cups Powdered Milk
1 TBSP Corn Starch
2 TBSP Taco Seasoning
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Dried Cilantro
1 single serving size Doritos chips (or 1 cup of Dorito/Tortilla chips in a snack sized Ziplock bag)

To cook:

In a large skillet brown 1 lb. of your favorite meat. Hamburger and Chicken are both fantastic.
Add 3 cups HOT water & Rice mix to the pan. Put chips to the side - don't put them in yet!
Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until rice is cooked through. Short grain white rice should be ready in about 10 minutes, long grain brown rice may take 30 minutes.
During the last few minutes, add 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese to the mix to melt.
Let stand 5-10 minutes, until desired thickness.
Sprinkle broken Doritos as a topping & serve.

Out of the Box Frito Chili Macaroni Helper

2015-01-28T14:05:00.001-08:00

When times are lean, I have always leaned on meals like Hamburger Helper and Rice-A-Roni to fill my pantry shelves. Between sales and coupons, they can be purchased very cheaply, and for a long time I thought they were helping us to get by.

But then we started moving away from processed foods and in no time we reached a point where if we did pick up a boxed meal, we were left not only dissatisfied, but also feeling not so great from the preservatives and included sugars and salt. I've missed the convenience of the box though, and several months ago started to hunt down some D-I-Y recipes for some of our favorite meals.

What I have found is that when you do make it yourself, the flavors and textures are SO much better! The DIY versions don't look much different from what you pour out of the box, but they cook up into larger meals (we can easily feed four adults from one mason jar) and are much more satisfying. The home made versions don't leave you hungry and snacking an hour after you eat.

I am still tweaking some of the recipes until I find the mix that is just right for us, so I haven't been sharing them. I've finally got a couple down pat though, and as I re-assemble them in the next couple of weeks I'm going to be sharing them with you.

Here is one of our favorites: Frito Chili Macaroni Helper. I assembled six jars of the Chili Helper this morning. It is so easy to assemble many jars at once and then stick them on your pantry shelf for those nights when you just don't want to think about what to have for dinner. This mix is shelf stable for several months. I wish I could remember where I found the original recipe, but I didn't keep diligent notes on this project and have modified it to suit our tastes since I first found it.

Make Your Own Frito Chili Macaroni Helper:

You will need:

6-10 quart sized mason jars (wide mouth makes it easier to get ingredients in and out)
Paprika (you can use either sweet or smoked, depending on how you like it)
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder (optional)
Chili Powder
Corn Starch
Your favorite shaped pasta (I use whole wheat spiral or penne pasta from my grocer's bulk section)
1 bag of Low Sodium Frito Corn Chips (or the number of single serving bags equal to the number of mason jars you are using)
6-10 Snack sized Ziplock bags (skip this if you are using single-serving chip bags)

To assemble, add the following to each jar:

1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
1 Tablespoon Chili powder
1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
2 cups pasta
Either 1 cup of Fritos in a sealed Ziplock bag, OR 1 single serving bag of Fritos

To cook:

In a large skillet brown 1 lb. of your favorite meat. Hamburger, chicken, pork and turkey all work wonderfully. For classic Hamburger Helper style meals, use ground meat. For something a little different, try shredded meats. Once browned/heated through, drain any excess fat.
Add 1 cup HOT water and 2 cups of milk, plus the pasta/seasoning mix from your jar to the pan. Put Fritos to the side - don't put them in yet!
Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 12-15 minutes. Stir occasionally, and make sure that pasta is cooked through before moving to the next step (note: Wheat pastas may take longer to cook than white pastas).
Add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, keep on low heat and stir until the cheese melts.
Remove from heat, let stand 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Sprinkle Frito Corn Chips over the top and serve.

I promise you that once you try making this on your own, you'll never want that boxed Chili Helper ever again!

Free is a very good price

2015-01-16T13:25:00.002-08:00

For those of you out there who didn't know - I don't just blog. I also write fiction books. One of my works, A Giraffe in the Room, is available for free download to your Kindle this weekend. Save your pennies and get your read on - all at the same time!

Denise's Slightly Maimed Machine Baked Bread

2014-12-29T20:58:00.001-08:00

In the land of multi-grain, protein infused, make-those-carbs count bread, Dave's Killer Bread certainly is king. All those delicious, nutritious and satisfying ingredients come with a hefty price tag - as much as $10 per loaf. If you've had the bread, it is easy to see why it commands that price point though. This bread is GOOD and with it, sandwiches take on a life of their own.

I've got a tight budget,and sadly I can't justify spending that much on baked goods. I've been baking my own bread for several months now and figured I would take a shot at kicking my bread up a notch. I scoured the internet and found a yummy looking recipe from the Kitchen Wench blog, but it didn't translate perfectly to the bread machine. After several attempts and some tweaks, I finally got it down. The recipe costs me roughly $2 to make (I buy all the ingredients in bulk to drive the price down).

Denise's Slightly Maimed Machine Baked Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 TBSP* Oil (I used grape oil)
1 TBSP Honey
1 TBSP Molasses
1 tsp** salt (I used Sea Salt)
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/8 cup Quinoa
1/8 cup sunflower seed hearts
1/8 cup quick cook oats
1/8 cup cracked wheat
1/8 cup brown flax seed
1/8 cup popppy seed
1 TBSP yeast

*TBSP= Tablespoon
**tsp = Teaspoon

Follow your bread machine's normal instructions for the order to put your ingredients in the machine. Bake on the wheat setting. I use the light crust setting, but choose your preference. If you have difficulty with the bread falling, check the moisture level of the dough and increase or decrease your water by 1/16th cup at a time until you find the mix that works right for your machine and altitude.

Enjoy!

FREE Message from Santa

2014-12-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

Every year I get in touch with Santa and ask him to send a special video message to a few people on my "nice" list. He is amazingly prompt in his replies. That is, if you're using Portable North Pole!

PNP takes a few bits of information (name, age, whether or not the recipient was naughty, nice, or in-between, a photo of your intended and of a gift) and pieces them all together into an adorable little video message from Santa. There is a free, and a paid version, but I have only ever used the free messages.

They are a quick little way to let someone know that you are thinking about them, and kids LOVE getting a video from Santa.

Check out Portable North Pole by clicking HERE and start spreading Christmas cheer today!

What's been happening?

2014-12-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hey there! I just realized it has been several weeks since my last blog post. The holiday season is crazy for just about everyone, and this year is no exception. I have been having additional difficulty getting things wrapped up this year though because of missing all of the family and friends that our family has lost this year.

So what have I been up to? Well, we took a luxurious trip to Disneyland for Thanksgiving. It was not really a budget conscious trip but we did save a bundle by booking the vacation and paying off the major expenses (hotel and airfare) months in advance. We also kept our spending in check by only purchasing souvenirs that were useful or that would compliment an existing collection.

I took the fall season off from couponing so that I could focus on some other projects:

First off, Adaline is officially my best selling fiction to date and I am SO excited about that! I've had the opportunity to do several public author appearances and have been invited to speak to students about writing. That has been a great adventure.

Second, I have begun tinkering around with Etsy, and am in the process of launching a new website dedicated to homesteading and DIY projects. This webstore and site are the jumping off point for Cockamamie Farms, our urban homestead. Cockamamie Farms and Cornerstead.wordpress.com are going to be the culmination of a lifetime of homemaking, work with livestock and my family's history of agriculture. (I bet you didn't know that I used to train horses and riders for a living, did ya?)

Third, I've started loom knitting socks. They aren't very pretty at this point, but I am learning a lot about sizing them to different feet (I've got toddler, tiny-women's and super-wide-men's feet in our household). I'm also discovering that I can make these super comfortable, custom sized socks for a fraction of what we would buy quality socks at the store for. The project is time consuming, but it is both budget conscious and mentally rewarding.

So there you have it - that's why I haven't been blogging with much frequency. It's always something, isn't it?

Coupons vs. Bulk Foods

2014-10-29T16:28:00.001-07:00

I am caught in quite the conundrum these days. I have been doing my best to feed my family healthier meals, and because of that my couponing-prowess has dropped significantly. Instead I have found myself trolling the bulk bins at my local grocer, so much so that I have even invested in burlap, cotton and netted sacks for my bulk buys.

I'm saddled with the question of whether it's possible to eat healthy AND coupon? Leafing through this week's inserts it certainly seems like most of the products attached to coupons tends to be highly processed. So what's a budget-conscious mom to do?

Find Healthy Food Coupons

This can be tricky if you are surrounded only by big-box grocers like WalMart and Kroger. But it is possible! Erin Huffstetler recently wrote an article called How to Get Coupons for Healthy Foods in which she discusses making the switch to a healthier grocery chain and signing up for their coupon newsletters. She also posts several links to print-at-home coupon sites that are dedicated to healthier living.

Buy Bulk Items At A Discount

I head to Winco for most of my non-organic buys (I do wish they had more organic options, and I am pleased to say that they are slowly adding them to shelves throughout the store). I absolutely LOVE their bulk section. Something I just learned though - I could be saving even MORE money by buying a full bag/sack/case of the items I'm bulk buying. According to their website:

We all know that just by buying from the Bulk Foodsdepartment we’re already saving money. But did you know about the insider secret that can help you save an additional 5%?

Here’s the secret: Many of the items in the bulk bins actually qualify for a 5% discount when they’re purchased as a whole case/sealed sack.

Coupon Selectively For Non-Food Items

I've gotten so addicted to the bulk section for my baking supplies, grains and pastas, that I have stopped shopping most other aisles. What our family does need those handy coupons for is all the household goods we use up. Toilet paper, paper towels, canning supplies, etc. all cost a pretty penny. It's almost always worth the cost of a Sunday paper just to clip the household coupons, especially when stores like Safeway have the holy combination of a bulk-buy sale & a coupon doubler.

Stock Up On In-Season Produce & Learn to Preserve

One of my new favorite things to do is to pick up several pounds of cheap, in-season fruits and vegetables and preserve my bounty for a later day. This fall I've learned a lot about making jam, pickling, and now I'm learning about drying foods, too. This is a great option for making sure you have access to those produce ingredients you want in the dead of winter without doubling-up on your grocery bill.

Vacation Freebies

2014-09-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Halooo! I write you all from the comfort of my suite in an undisclosed location in Seattle, Washington. We have stumbled into some amazing freebies this weekend and I just had to share them with you. The next time you are heading out of town, make sure to ask your hotel staff if they do any of the following:

1) Free hotel shuttles

We discovered (on accident after walking to the hotel) that our hotel offers a 24 hour shuttle to any destination within 1 mile. Want to see local sites? Need to pick up some groceries? All we have to do is call down to the front desk to notify the shuttle service. Sure, we may have to wait a few minutes for the shuttle to make the rounds. But in an unfamiliar city it is great to have a guide, and tipping our shuttle driver is MUCH cheaper than riding in a cab.

2) Free early check in/check out

We showed up at hour hotel 2 hours early, but we stopped in anyway to see if they had a room ready. They did, and they let us in with no extra charge. Should your hotel be lightly booked, you may be able to ask for free late check out service as well.

3) Free odds and ends

New to us (but we are going to start asking from now on), our hotel offers a variety of freebies that you can borrow during your stay. Forgot your phone charger? Lost you phone altogether? They have some that you can borrow until you check out.

4) Free baggage hold service

If you do get into town ahead of schedule, or have a meeting that will last beyond check out time and you CAN'T get early check in/out... did you know that the front desk will hold your luggage for you? It's true! Just ask. Before you leave your belongings behind though, make sure to ask how they secure your luggage. Many hotels have a hotel "vault" or secure room that they will hold it in.

Keep in mind that many of the cheapest of cheap hotels & motels won't offer all of these services. Consider that a hotel shuttle may balance out the cost of a more expensive room. Our hotel, for example is a 3+ star hotel (that I booked at a discount through Expedia.com), but the shuttle service alone has saved us about $40 in cab fare just in the day we've been here.

That's all for now - I'm going back to my rest and relaxation!

What's all THAT for?

2014-07-10T18:46:00.002-07:00

New Mexico. Mrs. Fidel Romero proudly exhibits her canned food.. [Two women standing in a kitchen pantry. Pantry contains preserved fruits and vegetables.] - National Archives and Records Administration, via http://commons.wikimedia.org/

There was a time when almost every household had a pantry crammed full of canned & non-perishable foods, bulk ingredients and supplies. Thanks to the convenience of corner grocery stores, take-outs and drive-through's the value of having a stockpile at home seems to have diminished for most.

Fortunately for me though, I caught the stockpiling bug and I just can't help myself! We've had a pretty rough year, and thankfully I had a stock of food items that we could eat off of when there just wasn't time/resources/ability to go to the store. We've been snowed in, blacked-out and suffered some hefty family disasters, but still we had food on the table. I'm in the process of building my stockpile back up again and have decided that I really need to work up to a 6 month stocking level (I've kept about a 30 day supply thus far) so that if we have really lean times, we'll be prepared.

Stockpiling goes hand in hand with budgeting, couponing and shopping the sales. Regularly there are sales & coupons for Buy One Get One offers. Rather than just get the one I paid for and the one I get for free, I'll max those out and get 8 or 10. At a minimum I will purchase enough of the sale products to total what I'd expect to pay retail for a single item, that way it doesn't really impact my budget but I'm still stocking up on items that we use.

When you do start your stock pile, you do need to do a couple of things:

- Only stockpile foods/items that you will actually use. Don't stock items that you feel you'd ONLY use in an apocalyptic scenario... chances are more likely that you'll be using them at a family picnic or snacking on them on a snow day.

- FIFO or First In, First Out. Make sure you face your product on the shelves so that newer product sits behind older product. Periodically go through and check expiration dates and use old items up before they expire.

- Organize! Get some type of organizational shelves. Packaging (and sanity) can be damaged if you simply lump your stockpile into a big heap in your garage. Pick up some nice pantry shelves on sale at your local hardware store, or search Craigslist for free shelving that is an appropriate size for your space.

- Decide what you are stockpiling for. Are you preparing for the end of civilization? Just live in an area that's hit by bad weather or faulty infrastructure? Would you feel safest with a 2 week supply or a 2 year supply? Figure that out and plan your purchases accordingly.

I Must Confess: I Am A Cereal Killer.

2014-04-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

The basics of combining coupons and sales can really be broken down with one grocery item. If you're not sure where to start, the easiest way to get the hang of the couponing gig is to get in on some cereal.

Albertsons and Safeway both ran a special for specific name-brand cereals for $1.88 each. A couple of weeks ago, I had clipped coupons for $1.00 off any 3 General Mills cereals (Albertsons), and although I didn't have any coupons for Post cereals (Safeway) it's rare to beat a $1.88 price.

The cereal shelf in my stockpile.

I took the few coupons I had to Albertsons, and started with the General Mills cereals. I had 2 $1.00 off 3 General Mills Cereal coupons, and I grabbed a few each of Total, Lucky Charms and Reeses cereals. All normally retail for about $4.00 depending on what side of town you're on.

So Retail would have been around $40.00 for the 10 boxes that I picked up. But I paid:

10 boxes
x $1.88
$18.80 Sale Price
- $2.00 Coupons
$16.80 OR $1.68 each

Then I headed over to Safeway to round out my cereal offerings with some Honey Bunches of Oats, Honey Roasted. I was only going to get 3 boxes, but while at the store I checked the Clearance rack in the back and found three Honey Bunches of Oats w/Strawberries that were not only on sale for $1.88, but were ALSO 50% off due to having ripped boxes from shipping. The bag inside the boxes were fully intact, so I snagged those, too. These cereals also normally retail for around $4.00 each.

Retail, the six boxes I picked up would have cost around $24.00. But I paid:

6 boxes
x $1.88
$11.28
- $2.82 for damaged boxes
$8.46 OR $1.41 each

So, $25.26 later I've got myself a stockpile of cereal that will last us roughly 6-8 months (we only eat cereal a couple times a week). That gives us enough time to consume the goods before the "Best By" dates printed on the packages, and saved me a total of $38.74 on my 6-month grocery bills plan.

These cereal deals are really frequent throughout the spring (I picked up Kix and Trix on a similar sale last week), and almost all grocery stores do them. Make sure you watch your ads - and if you've got an Albertsons or Safeway near you, these prices are good through Tuesday, April 8th!

Crock Pot Applesauce

2014-01-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago my beloved husband and I had dinner with the in-laws. I was really intrigued when before dinner my sister-in-law and her husband started peeling apples and loading up the crock pot. A few hours later, they had the most delicious apple sauce!

Life then intervened and I've been too busy to even buy apples, let alone peel them. But finally, this week I scored a good deal on some local apples and had the twenty minutes that I needed to get them peeled and in the crock-pot.

I have to say, I wish someone would have told me about this sooner! For about the same amount of money that I would spend getting a jar of applesauce on sale, I instead made my own chunky sauce and know exactly what went into it.

This is a MUST if you can get organic apples on sale, or if you happen to be blessed to have a tree of your own.

For a recipe, I simply Google'd "Crockpot Applesauce" until I found one that sounded good. Here is the recipe I used: Easy Slow Cooker Applesauce

Image By Jason Popesku (Flickr: Peeling apples for applesauce) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

How to Make Muffins Using Cake Mix

2013-11-24T10:49:00.001-08:00

This morning when I went to the store to pick up my Sunday paper, as I was browsing through the high ticket items I regularly buy to see which of them were on sale (unadvertised sales happen all the time), I passed through the baking aisle and the boxed muffin mixes were calling my name. I decided that muffins for breakfast would be divine.

BUT... I didn't have a coupon, and although the mixes were on sale, I already had a mountain of cake mixes at home. It was hard to justify buying a box of dry ingredients essentially the same as what I had on stock, so I came home determined to figure out how to make muffins with what I already have. The result were home made muffins that were (dare I say) better than what comes out of the muffin boxes!

Here is how you can make your own muffins using boxed cake mix:

Ingredients:
1 standard box of cake mix. You can use any flavor, I chose Lemon cake.
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 cup of frozen fruit. I used a mixed fruit blend that I had stored in the freezer. You could also use chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or nuts.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325. Empty the contents of your cake mix (dry ingredients) into a mixing bowl. Disregard the ingredient list on the box. Instead, add egg, oil and milk. Mix until batter is smooth, then add frozen fruit and mix until fruit is evenly distributed. Spoon batter into a muffin tin, until the wells are roughly 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and serve.

These muffins were so fluffy and delicious! I made 12 muffins and poured the left over batter into a bread pan and ended up with a nice small loaf of muffin bread. They got rave reviews from my husband and toddler, so I know these will be a regular in our house whenever I have spare cake mix handy.

The Season for Free (or Discounted) Turkeys!

2013-11-19T17:41:00.001-08:00

Even if you aren't normally a couponer, now is the time to pay attention! If your family enjoys eating poultry then November and December are a great time to stock up on fresh and frozen turkeys. Most large grocery stores will run offers for "Spend $x.xx And Get A Free Turkey", and I've already gotten a couple of coupons from Coupons.com and through our weekly circulars for $3 off the purchase of a turkey when certain other items are purchased.

I already redeemed one offer for a discounted turkey this week. Fred Meyer is offering turkeys at a discounted rate if you spend over $50 on other groceries (I believe I paid $0.69/lb for my 15 pounder), or up to a 20lb turkey for FREE if you spend $150 on other groceries. It has been a LONG time since I spent $150 on a single shopping trip, but $50 is an easy spend and I think I paid about $10 for a turkey that would normally have been well over $20.

I plan to load up on free and discounted turkey over the next six weeks, and stock my freezer with good meat that will carry us into the spring. When else can you get good meat for under $1/pound??

Candles on the CHEAP!

2013-10-30T16:06:00.001-07:00

I love having candles around the house. For decoration, and for the inevitable power outage that happens a few times a year. But, candles are expensive! I'm almost through my last package of votives, and so I started searching the internet for a cheap way to make my own candle with random jars I've been saving.

Behold! The Crisco candle!

Find instructions here: http://www.azprepper.com/blogs/crisco--olive-oil-candles.html

Crisco, or any type of left over animal fat, can be coupled with string or a cheap emergency candle to produce these attractive mason jar style candles. The best part is that the Crisco is slow burning, and I have found reports that depending on the size of your container, the candles can burn for up to 100 hours.

I haven't made these candles myself yet, but it is going to be my DIY on the cheap project for November. For roughly $20, I should be able to make 12 pint-sized candles using packed Crisco, cheap tapered emergency candles (used in place of a plain wick) and canning jars.

Couponing Triumphs!

2013-10-09T14:59:00.003-07:00

"... But they don't make coupons for the things I buy."

I hear this pretty frequently when the topic of coupons comes up in conversation - which now that I am a mega couponer happens all the time! The misconception is that you can never find coupons for what you need at the time you need it. If you're simply flipping through this Sunday's paper and comparing that to your grocery list, then this is probably your exact experience most of the time.

So how do you start saving money with coupons? It took me a long time to figure it out, even though it is simple. Make a list of the things you know you are going to need over the next 6 months.

"6 MONTHS? That's a long time. How am I going to know what I'll need 6 months from now?"

Easy! Go through your average day and write down things that you use that are non-perishable. Ask yourself:

What do I use to clean my house?
What do I use to do my laundry?
What do I like to have on hand when I have a cold or the flu?
What holidays and family gatherings are coming, and what do I typically contribute?
What do I like to have on hand when the power goes out?

The more you start to think about what you use regularly, and what you can buy in advance and then store for later use, the more money you will be able to save. Comparing your list to store sales, joining store loyalty programs and clipping coupons for anything you know you'll need in the coming months will help you to maximize your savings.

For an example of big savings, here is what I did this morning at Walgreens. Halls Cough Drops (Regularly $2.19) were on sale for 2 for $3.00. In my coupon binder I had two coupons for $1.00 off of any 2 packages of Halls Cough Drops. Two weeks ago, I bought products at Walgreens that gave me back a $3.00 credit off my next purchase. So:

I got four (4) packages of Halls Cough Drops. (Regularly $2.19 x 4 = $8.76)
The packages were on sale for $1.50 each / $0.69 off. I saved $0.69 x 4 = $2.76.
($8.76-$2.76 = $6.00)
I used two (2) coupons for $1.00 off two (2) packages, totaling $2.00 off. ($6.00 - $2.00 = $4.00)
I redeemed my $3.00 credit from an earlier purchase. ($4.00 - $3.00 = $1.00)

So although we aren't sick right now, I got 4 bags of our favorite cough drops for $1.00. That's just $0.25 each for something I'd normally pay over $2.00 for when we run to the store because we're sick! By planning ahead - because I know we'll be sick eventually - I saved 89% over retail.

I promise you, if I can spend 5 minutes in Walgreens and save close to 90%, you can too.