Big Family, Bigger Bills

Emergency dinner from a can

2014-12-28T15:02:00.000-05:00

Whether you forgot to throw dinner in the crockpot, have a power outage, or other problem that is preventing you from making dinner, this recipe ALWAYS comes to the rescue. I think this is our family's favorite soup. I made this as a starter at Thanksgiving dinner when my parents were visiting. Albeit not traditional for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone in the family kept telling them how wonderful this soup is, and my mother refused to believe it. But it IS good....so good! It is so easy it can be doubled easily or adjusted to your own taste. I have put this on noodles and used it as a dip. It is quite unique. It is all from a can, so you can have it on hand at all times. I always use a crock pot, but if you are in a rush, it can be heated up on the stove also. It can even be heated up over a few candles if need be. It is perfect for kids and non-cooks alike.

Anyway, here are the ingredients:

1 can of shredded chicken
1 can of Rotel
1 LARGE can of cream of mushroom soup (or 2 normal size)
1 can of enchilada sauce

That's it! Just heat and serve.

Book review: Suddenly Frugal By Leah Ingram

2012-02-13T00:41:00.000-05:00

I try not to put exceptionally long posts in reviews, and this is an UNPAID review of this book. The reason I am including a post about it is because it is a recent book, it doesn't have a lot of "new" ideas so to speak, but it is an excellent book to get started on saving. This is a great book for a displaced worker or a sudden drop in income. This one includes a lot of old ideas with new solutions. The fact that it was written so recently makes it much more useful than other books.

This is not the tightwad gazette (which I coincidentally GENUINELY recommend. This book really requires someone with a LOT of time on their hands, but is 900 lbs. of awesome information!), but includes a lot of great information.

money saving money ? Do coupons REALLY save you money?

2012-02-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

Coupons can be considered a form of currency. After all, if you consider you are trying to buy a bag of chips that is $2, if you give the cashier a coupon, you now owe $1.50 (the same as if you just gave a cashier 2 quarters).

I remember going to the store (in my extreme couponing days) about 5 months ago with about 10 coupons. I had matched the coupons with the sale items, and was ready to save a ton of money! I walked out of the store with nothing I went in for...

Why?

Well, I went into the store, and when I realized I could buy the store brand for cheaper than the SALE AND COUPON TOGETHER I was awfully disappointed. This happens at least 75% of the time. If you do the math, one of the things I was looking for was DiGiorno Pizzas. They were "regularly" $6.99, on sale for $4.99 with a 75c coupon. So for $4.24 I could buy a Digiorno pizza, $3.79 the generic (though tastfully identical), or I could make the pizza for under $2 (and tastes MUCH better!).

This was just one example. I tried this not once, but 3 TIMES!!!!! I saved more buying store brands, which with a few exceptions are tastefully indifferent.

The question you need to ask yourself is twofold:

1. What is the minimum wage you would accept to be at home for the time you are cooking (taking care of the kids, etc.).

2. What is MORE IMPORTANT? what you save or what you spend?

Think about it.

Look at it THIS way...

For Big Family, lets start with an even $100 worth of food

Regular retail: $100.
Regular sales: $80
With Coupons, extreme couponing, several hours per week: $60
Home made, from least expensive stores: $35-50

The simple fact is, if you adapt yourselves to a more "simple" lifestyle, learn to cook and "shop the outer edge" of the supermarket, then you save money. Not to mention, time from clipping coupons.

We are going into a month of TRUE FOOD FRUGALITY.

DO VEGETABLE GARDENS REALLY SAVE MONEY?

2012-01-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

NO! OK, maybe.... in the long run. But not enough. When people visualize a beautiful garden full of vegetables, they don't imagine pulling off hundreds of caterpillars, bugs, fungus, etc. every day to be able to even get one decent tomato.

I would have to say, I spent $300 on my garden, and got about $50 worth of produce. NOT a good deal.

I took a HUGE loss, especially considering the time I put into it. SO.... I decided to give people other options to reap the same benefits with better guarantees, and this comes with a CSA. We have a CSA that for $550 per year, you get 1 share. I WANT my family to eat healthier food so desperately that I decided to check into it.

Now, I have NO IDEA how much you get for that $550, but I looked under employment, and they were looking for people to help out 5 hours a week. These people who work 5 hours per week for 20 weeks, receive a full share ($550 value) of the CSA. So, for 100 hours of work, this is about $5.50 per hour. This is NOT a bad wage considering I can work it around my oldest child being home, and no "Taxes" on my share. Taking a $50 daycare day into consideration, and 18% of that, my share WOULD cost me nearly 2k. Since Big C can watch them for the 5 hours I am gone, it equates to free food. Not only that, it is an EXCELLENT learning experience and will better my abilities to growing my own food. So... fingers crossed, I hope I get the "position"

2012 revelations for big family, bigger bills

2012-01-29T22:44:00.000-05:00

I feel like I have learned a LOT over the past 4 months. My seasonal business did quite well for 7-8 weeks, but I was running CONSTANTLY 80+ hours a week. BUT I can stay home with the kiddoes for the next year and SURVIVE, between my husband's income and the money I put aside.

We paid off 2 credit cards, so have 2 credit cards and 2 car payments to go. I paid back mom (who was so wonderful to loan us the money to get the business started!), so next year we will do even better.

SO this leaves me 45 weeks out of the year to try and supplement our income. This year, I need to be able to take care of the babies and make $200 per week to keep up with our standard of living.

I just ordered a book on amazon. Sadly enough, it is not available on an e-reader. It is called the TIGHTWAD GAZETTE. It is by far the BEST resource I have found about saving money, yet they DO take it to extremes. I am expecting it on Tuesday, and that, along with a few resources on the internet, my next post will be on the top ideas and resources to save money.

A Totally AWESOME update!

2011-09-24T00:24:00.001-04:00

My husband let me try out the bunk room!!!! OK, so it took a little persuading because it is not traditional, but here is how we have it set up:

Master bedroom: Ours and BABY K- he is still not sleeping through the night at 13 months, so he stays with us.

BR #2 THE BUNK ROOM- which right now, consists of one bunk bed, and 1 crib (which turns into a toddler bed). The closet has many storage areas from bins to those hanging clothes holders, but nothing closed.

BR#3 THE PLAY ROOM/GUEST ROOM- This consists of a daybed, a dresser with a TV on top (out of the babie's reach!) and a small bookcase with a lamp. The top drawer will be craft supplies, markers, pens, pencils, etc. The third will be for games and board games. The bottom two are yet to be determined.

I plan on taking over the 3rd bedroom closet for food storage so we can save money by buying in bulk. Since we are in a hurricane evacuation area, we will want to have a decent food storage.

Anyway, this idea has turned out to be spectacular!!!! LIL C (our 2 year old) can be napping while (BIG M- our 9 year old) is doing his homework.

Still, BABY K (our little 1 year old) can throw toys around, scream and squeal as he wishes in BR 3. While BABY K is destroying the room, BIG C (our 12 year old) can watch TV and keep an eye on BABY K at the same time!

END RESULT: Better study time for BIG M who has SEVERE concentration issues. TV time for BIG C without distracting BIG M. BABY K and LITTLE C can get naps any time without being woken up....

PLUS- when family visits, they have a seperate room. Also if one of your kids has a sleepover, they can have some privacy away from their siblings. IT works so much better than traditional room sharing!

If you have more people than bedrooms, this is a great setup and has made everyone happy.

stay at home

2011-08-12T20:39:00.000-04:00

There is absolutely nothing wrong with staying at home with the kids. After all, kids are a 24/7 job. On the other hand, if you want to stay at home, there are many people who still would like to have their own money for personal reasons.

Some people may want it so they feel like less of a burden. Others would like to buy things that their spouse doesn't disapprove of, but it is not in the budget or may have to make another sacrifice.

Then, there the need for extra income while you are unemployed, paying off credit card debt, saving for a down payment on a home, or saving to start a business. Whatever your reason is, there are a LOT of ways to make money on the internet or while your children are around.

I am able to care for my children, cook, clean, AND bring in some extra income between it all. We get free dinners, gift cards, and all sorts of other free things! PLUS I easily pull in a couple hundred bucks a month extra. I don't even have to go anywhere I don't normally go! I NEVER paid a fee for any of the stuff I do. In fact, I am evaluating my first investment into an online business right now, and will update you on that shortly (and I will recommend it or not only at that time).

How do I do this? Well, there is not just one way I do this, and there are a few things I must say before I go any further:

1. The income potential is MUCH higher than I am giving you. The main reason: this doesn't count referrals. Until now, I never went public with what I do.

2. You do NOT HAVE to pay anything to make money online, but it is hard work. It doesn't come overnight, but the rewards can be life changing.

3. I did not add anything to this list you need any special skills for. I left these out intentionally. So there is no blogging, web page design, etc. required for these programs.

I am working hard to get a list together to help anyone make some money online in their spare time. Imagine a $50 check each month for just doing some computer work while you are cooking dinner. If you are like me, fifty bucks is an extra 600 per year.

You can find this list HERE

washing soda , white vinegar , and boric acid as cleaners

2011-07-24T00:52:00.000-04:00

I spent the day on Friday researching homemade cleaning recipes. I did this for several reasons. The first one is due to the amount of cleaning supplies we currently use. I am purely guessing, but I am going to try to average what we use for a month in cleaning supplies:

1 lg bottle laundry detergent- $14.00
1/2 dishwasher detergent- $1.50
1 bottle dish soap- $1.00
fabric softener- $2.50
carpet refresher- $3.00
1/3 furniture polish- $1.00
all purpose cleaners and wipes- $3.00
upholstery cleaner- $3.00

We use a few other things, but they are in such small amounts that it is not worth adding in the cents of it we use every month. So we use roughly $30 a month or so in high end cleaners.

I decided for my Spring cleaning in July to go au natural, that is, not using the stuff I normally do. Because I wanted to try out cleaning as naturally as possible with as little money as possible, I researched different cleaners, gambled with how they would work, and am here to share my experience with the natural solutions I used. I learned a lot today! Now, just for the record, I used normal laundry detergent because I just bought a HUGE container of the cheap stuff, and want to use the container when it is gone for my homemade trial. So I used regular laundry detergent.

What did I clean, what did I use, how did it work?

I did a thorough cleaning of our bedroom today. Our bedroom for now is a bedroom for 4. Our 23 mo. old and 11 mo. old are in cribs in our room.

The wood-

Lemon juice and olive oil seems to be the norm for furniture polish. I varied this to what I had on hand, which was lime juice (from making salsa) and I have all sorts of oil, but canola oil is SOOOO much cheaper than olive oil, so I tried that.

My results? It didn't smell like much at all, but the mixture cleaned the furniture and gave it a great shine. The part I was shocked about though is that some of the scratches that were previously there just "disappeared". Instantly. I have never seen this with the store bought stuff, although it has a great lemon scent. That is the trade off (unless of course I ever decide to invest in some essential oils).

The carpets and upholstery-

We have a carpet cleaner, but I refuse to pay 20 bucks for carpet cleaner (our recommended brand for our carpet cleaner). So I tried using vinegar. 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water. I tried this with both our couch and our carpets. The carpets were only dirty from shoes, but the vinegar water solution did really well removing the stains. The "miracle" was with the couch. Our lil ones fall asleep with milk bottles and cups on the couch constantly, which leaves huge outlines of stains. We have tried to remove the milk stains with upholstery cleaner, and they did OK. But the couch removal was INCREDIBLE... It looked NEW!!!!! White vinegar worked wonders for this.

I mixed 1/6 borax, 1/6 washing soda, and 1/6 white vinegar with 1/2 water. It is not rocket science, so just eyeball them. This is what I used as a multipurpose, and it worked just as well as my normal cleaner. However, what I did notice is that is you leave it on rather than just wipe it off, it takes marks off immediately.

My conclusion? Getting started on "natural" cleaning is worth it. 100%. It cost me around 7 bucks to buy the borax, white vinegar, and washing soda, and the rest we had around the house. But I believe firmly that these 3 products are worth the minimal investment. I am going to do some research on other uses for these products, and post even more uses.

As always, thanks for reading!

Start An orchard!

2011-07-21T19:52:00.002-04:00

An orchard is probably one of the best investments you can ever make. If you don't have $40 a pop for trees, or don't have your dream home yet. That is ok. As your family goes through store bought fruit, start planting the seeds. All it takes to get these little guys started is 3-4 bags of soil, and a few dozen planting bags like the ones below. These bags are the exact ones I got, same seller, and they are doing great. They were ready to go when they got here. If the trees do not produce good fruit, you have some wood for other uses. I plan on planting EVERY single fruit seed and pit that comes into this house over the next year or two is getting planted. These bags worked so well for me, I am going to grab a bunch of 5 gallon bags, and 50 more 1 gallon bags to grow out our fruit trees in. I expect our total cost to be under $80 for the fruit trees (not counting water!).

So for the cost of 2 fruit trees, you can have 100! If you take good care of them, and half of those survive and produce fruit, you can have all the fruit trees you need to get your orchard started. Wait until they fruit for the first time. If the fruit is terrible, or it never fruits, give it away or use it for any of the other ways wood can be used. On the other hand, if you have 10 apple trees that produce great fruit, I am sure you have a few neighbors who will take it off your hands for a couple bucks. So starting an orchard this way may take a little longer, but it will save you tons of money, and you can even make a small profit in the end!

Right now though, we are all about savings. An orchard is a savings as WELL as a great investment for your future. This is an investment that can be as big or as small as you want to make it.

1. Sell the fruits.
2. Use the land under and around the trees for herbs, and sell the herbs. This works especially well when your trees are not producing.
3. Learn to root trees from branches and sell the little trees. These also make great gifts.

Do you have any other ways you make money off of your orchard?

Your allotment

2011-07-17T00:14:00.000-04:00

Growing Veggies in a small plot in your yard or patio is a great idea for saving a bit of money. There are people who love it, and people who hate it. Me? I love choosing what I plant and watching it grow. There is nothing better though than going out to your yard and picking tonights pasta sauce or salad. A garden is not only a symbol of frugality, but a symbol of luxury. It also offers the ultimate in security.

During my "fast food days", I realized at one time, peppers were banned at taco bell, and tomatoes became nonexistant at Burger King, Subway, etc. due to food shortages. I LOVE fresh tomatoes, even the grocery store ones. With the worst flooding in years along the Mississippi and the droughts throughout Texas and the surrounding states, I expect our food prices to skyrocket. Many basic staples have nearly doubled in just the last 12 months.

APARTMENT LIVING
Currently, we are in an apartment with only a small 3rd floor balcony. I am only being "allowed" a small shelving unit for my garden. At this point, we have a beautiful view of the water- and if we hit a money problem, we have fish abound right in our own backyard. This provides us with some security we need. Know if you ever get desperate, where some temporary food sources are.

My love for gardening and realizing the need for a secure future has made me exert much of the little space I have to only 2 plants for our immediate needs: tomatoes and peppers. This is partially because our porch is screened, so I get no help from the good insects, and need to pollinate my tomatoes and peppers by hand.

The remainder of our garden is completely dedicated to starting fruit trees from seed. Right now, I have 1 baby mango, a few lemon, a few lime, and a few papaya growing on our porch, all in 1 gallon bags. I grew all of them from $4 worth of fruit I got from the store. I also have 3 avocado seeds in 1, however, I have not had much luck with these guys. If one actually sprouts, I will move it. For newbies, many of these will not grow to be just like their parent plants in flavor, size or shape, and could be terrible. But then again, they could also be superior. I, personally, would rather take 33c and buy a lime and grow the 4-6 seeds in it for a few extra years (especially since I can not plant them outside anyway!) and take my chances that 1 of the 5 will produce an equal or superior lime. I now save the seeds from all the fruits I can.

If you have a brown thumb, but want to try this, go buy a papaya. They have hundreds of seeds, so hundreds of chances to screw up. I planted 3, and 2 have grown with little sun or assistance from me other than a daily watering. They are not a tree, by the way, so do your research on how to grow them. They are actually an herb, much like a banana.

Since I had so much luck with the lemons, limes, papayas, and the mango, I am going to try to get my hands on apple, orange, and peach seeds. I am also going to order a few more seeds from the SEEDMAN.

There is another plant that through years of research seems to be a "must have" no matter where you are. It is nicknamed the "survival tree" because it is extremely useful and is supposedly very easy to care for.

PEOPLE WITH LOTS OF LAND

You guys are the lucky ones. If you have many acres of land, that is you! Although we aren't focusing on people with tons of acreage, but there may be some great ideas to help you make more of your land.

THE "LUCKY ONES"

These are the people with anywhere from 1/4 of an acre to 2 acres. The reason I consider you "lucky" is that these are the people who can grow some of their own food and maybe even a bit of a profit (enough to cover a lot of expenses, including the rest of their food), and never leaving home.

I am hoping to use these "babies" I have planted on our balcony to get a great head start on being one of the "lucky ones" in about a year and a half. I hope to have a great source of EVERYTHING, and KNOW HOW TO USE IT, within the next 10 years.

we need money

2011-07-16T22:22:00.002-04:00

OK, so you are not going to change your life in a week, but you can get headed in the right direction! Can you really change your life with no money? The answer is YES and NO. You CAN change your life with just a little effort.

If you are at home during the day with kids or without, by choice or by force, utilize your free time! If you are at home watching a movie, why not do some paid clicking on your laptop? How about a survey while you are cooking dinner or looking after the children? Maybe starting a free blog here on blogger or write articles. Watch your neighbor's child. There are so many sites on how to make money online and offline that I am not going to put one on here, however I do keep a list of all of my sources, and would be happy to share my list with anyone interested (just send a request and an email address. Choose your own path. Aim for $10 a day of just "extra money". Every day, this is about $300 per month. It is certainly not going to pay your bills, but it is not intended to. This is LIFE money. This is to give you a better life. This $300 per month can pay off your car sooner, your credit cards, student loans, whatever is there. This is a great step to a better lifestyle.

If you have no debt, congrats! I highly recommend you check out the peer lending sites. I use Lending Club for any money that I am saving for 3-5 years. I constantly reinvest into new loans, and keep track of what I am yielding a month. I do this along with paying off debt, as I like to have the money there for an emergency. The advantage to lending club, is if you get into a tight position, you can sell your loans on a trading platform. In the meantime, the yield is excellent! Check it out! This is my FUTURE money. This is put aside for once I get our family's bills under control. This is to use to further our ability to save money on bills that NEVER get paid off (utilities, food, clothes, taxes, etc.).

Right now, this is also serving as my "business account". It will fund my side business, which I do not want to put any effort or money into until we cut down our other debt.

The "$10 a day strategy" has had a significant impact on our lives. It has allowed us to save some money along with making me feel productive and it is wonderful to not only contribute to the household by cooking and taking care of the kids, but financially also.

Then there is the "minimum wage dilemma" many parents face. I will tell you, I have a family member that has 1 child, and she ONLY works for medical insurance, daycare, and taxes. Her husband has insurance, but hers is $60 cheaper for the family. So essentially, she makes $60 per month working. This strategy may work for you to supplement your income enough to stay home with your children.

Your initial goal? $10 a day. If you make more, pat yourself on the back. This small amount can give you a SOLID future. It is all about multiplying this savings and saving what you multiply it into.

City Farm

2011-07-04T17:08:00.003-04:00

Farm animals provide fresh meat, eggs, and other supplies to your home. Just because you can not have chickens or goats does not mean you can not have an ample supply of meat.

Rabbits, for example, reproduce rampantly, grow quickly, and give a high quality meat that is eaten regularly in other parts of the world. There are also breeds you can use for their fiber.

Quail are not necessarily chickens, but they lay plenty of eggs. Their eggs are about 1/3 the size of a chicken egg. However, per square food of area needed to raise these, they can yield much more. Quail meat is also a delicacy, and sells for a great price.

Fish, like Tilapia or Catfish, can yield an excellent amount of food in a tiny space. Tilapia reproduce so fast that you may not be able to keep up with them!

Other seafood- I have heard of people raising shrimp, crawfish, oysters, and many other seafood products in their own backyard.

These 3 tiny creatures can give you a LOT of food that can be produced in a tiny amount of space. If you are like me, and get a little queasy at the thought of "preparing" your own food, many times fish supply stores or butchers will take care of the dirty work for you. If you are a regular, you may even be able to get a deal or work out a "trade".

A Garden Story

2011-07-04T17:05:00.003-04:00

I genuinely believed for a long time that I could grow NOTHING! I had a great little bed in the yard of our 120 year old home. I tried to grow a little bit of everything in it. My yield for the year? A 4" pot of tiny, red, split tomatoes, 2 deformed carrots, and a deformed cucumber. Nevertheless, I abandoned and neglected my little garden bed, and sure enough....

The next year, before we got relocated out of state, the bed was thriving. I am not sure what all was in there, but the beans I had planted, and the strawberries among many others, were thriving. It just goes to show you, you can get veggies to grow with no effort at all!

Grow cash !

2011-07-04T17:01:00.004-04:00

Make the kids (or yourself!) that fruit salad, and save the seeds! If you have a brown thumb, or have no idea what is a tree and what is a weed, use the 1/2 - 1 gallon plant bags and get those babies started! If you have extra bags, it gives you an opportunity to try it out. Don't expect to make a profit at this point, just expect to take pride and enjoy what comes out of your own little garden!

The truth is, a simple fruit tree will pay you back many times it's cost when you sell your house. That same tree will save you on your grocery bills too! Make the best of it! The other benefit to this strategy is that you shouldn't plant a whole lot of what you will not eat. After all, if you plant 10 apple seeds, chances are you eat apples!

planting containers

2011-07-04T16:59:00.003-04:00

There are many free ways to obtain containers for your garden, and some are better than others. Since our plan is to rent a house for another year or two to save a bit more money before we buy another home, I have begun to plan how I can have a decent yielding garden without a lot of money, and not digging up their yard. Here are some GREAT ideas I have come up with. Some are the courtesy of others.

The rubbermaid planter- This seems to be a PROVED planter for tomatoes and other large bushy crops, and the yield seems too good to be true. Many people swear by these. At $7 a planter (according to the author), I will be using these for tomatoes, eggplants, and any other larger bushier plants I choose to grow. I apologize, but I am unaware of who the genius was, but if you google "rubbermaid earthbox", it will come right up.

The shelving garden- Yep- down here in the south, you can grow lettuce and a few other veggies in part or even mostly shade. So putting together a cheap shelving unit (heavy duty, $14 at Walmart.com) and throwing together 4-5 square planters can yield you a solid steady supply of salads and herbs.

The raised BED garden- literally! How about this idea! Obtain a boxspring and metal frame. You can get these free, and in abundance, on Craigslist. Cut the coils and fabric out, buy a few pieces of plywood, including ones for the bottom, and frame the bed. Leave a 1/2 to 1 inch opening in the bottom of the frame to let the soil drain. Line it with whatever you can get ahold of, even heavy duty trash bags. This will protect the wood frame. Staple or nail the plastic to the inside of the wood, leaving the slit in the middle open. I would LOVE to hear about anyone who has tried this, or who is inspired by this post to trying it. This would theoretically provide 33 square feet of planting area, and consider what you can do with that! I plan on trying this with 2- one just a 1 level frame, the other putting 2 same size frames together to make a deeper planting bed for veggies and fruits that have longer root systems. I know that there is going to be very little light that gets through to the grass beneath, but I am intentionally looking for a rental with an "already ugly" back yard.

I still plan on letting my little trees grow in the grow bags. The price of the bags is GREAT, and I can switch out their bags as needed. I LITERALLY spend 8 minutes a day tending to my little "garden", and of that, 6 of it is admiring the ripening tomatoes or the mango's new baby's leaves. I bought 1 gallon bags to start my grocery seeds, and a surprising amount are growing happily in their bags. Much better than I expected! I am planning on moving them to 5 gallon bags, and as for my mango, she will go into a larger bag. When we move into our new house, I will be SOOOO happy, as I will already have a good amount of baby trees ready to thrive! When they grow into larger bags, they will be replaced by new babies.

I have no idea how big our yard will be in the next place, but I will have plenty of little trees to plant. Then I will sell or give away the ones that won't fit. ROI? 1000000000000000% Why? One grocery trip to make the kiddoes a great fruit salad yielded a great future orchard for me! IF IN DOUBT, TRY TO SPROUT! The worst that will happen, it won't grow. Use the fruits, sprout the seeds. If they, in a few years, yield great fruit, you are getting free food. If they yield terrible fruit or none at all, see what other use they can have. They may make a great firewood. But if your budget does not allow you to buy a $40 citrus tree, which mine doesn't, then plant the seeds. You have very little to lose.

Yard Money

2011-07-04T16:56:00.005-04:00

Garden Archive

2011-07-04T16:55:00.002-04:00

This week is completely dedicated to Gardening. We are not focusing on flowers. We are focusing on feeding our families. Whether you have a small yard or just a balcony, you can grow food for your family. We are focusing on people who are trying to get a lot of use out of the little bit of land that they have. Since we relocated about 8 months ago into an apartment with only a balcony with little space, and even less sun (no direct sun!), my garden at this point is meager and frugal.

I bought a small greenhouse, which only consists of 4 shelves, for my garden, as I was unsure if anything would grow with such a limitation on natural sunlight. I ended up buying a greenhouse just like the one below. Initially, I used old dresser drawers for a LOT of planting area (for the space), and planted it for a square foot garden. My efforts failed after my first crop of lettuce for 2 reasons: the drawers disintigrate quickly and they attract EVERY kind of bug you can imagine, worst being biting gnats. They were also WAY too heavy for the shelves of the unit, and they eventually started to give.

In a search for something incredibly cheap for me to plant in, I discovered plant bags, like the ones below. They come in a multitude of sizes, and I am very happy with them. I started off with 1 gallon bags, and am getting ready to purchase a set of 5 gallon bags. I challenged the needs of tomatoes and peppers, and started growing citrus trees, a few papayas, and a mango tree from seeds of fruit from the grocery store. I know this is not necessarily the fastest way to grow these trees, and the fruits will not be the same as their mother tree (they could be worse OR better!). It was the cheapest by far. At this point, my garden has a few tomatoes growing and a few peppers. These are currently full size plants in 1 gallon bags. They should be in larger ones, but my garden at this point is for testing and experimentation. My total garden setup to date has cost me about $65. I also bought soil and a sprayer from a local hardware store. My shelves are full of baby trees I hope to transplant when we move into a home with a yard. I estimate we will purchase a home or at least land for a new home in about 2 years, and by that time they should be strong enough to go in the ground.

Moving from Chicago to Florida changes a lot of things with how, what and when to grow. I also wanted to test the limits of these land loving plants. Gardening does not have to be hard or time consuming, but can make ends meet with your family's food bill. I had a much larger set up in Chicago, even on our small shaded lot. The first year will be a great test for what grows well in your particular microclimate. Plant as many vegetables and varieties of what you can afford, and visit your agricultural extension's website to see what grows well in the area.

Dealing with being unemployed

2011-07-04T16:52:00.000-04:00

I was reading an article on Yahoo, asking people to tell their stories about unemployment, and lo and behold, there were 2600 responses from people with their stories. This is why I have decided to change gears a bit and do a week about surviving on unemployment, or even worse, nothing.

First, let me say, I sympathize with anyone who has gone through the same thing we have. Bring up 4 children on 1 salary isn't easy, let alone if you were living on one to begin with. Our family scrapes by on our income. Over the past year, our situation has dramatically improved. Before I spend a week on this subject, I want to give you, the reader, a few tips. These are not only good for the unemployed, but for anyone trying to better their financial situation.

1. Immediately cut down as low as you possibly can. This may or may not mean cutting luxuries, but it does mean cut anything that you have been putting off. For example, we paid for 9 months for a house phone, and never even used it! We just didn't "have time" to cancel it. At least that is what we told ourselves. But not holding off on it and cancelling it immediately would have saved us $270 that we wasted because we didn't.

2. Going back to school and finishing your degree, getting a different degree, etc. may not be a great option for several reasons. A long term program may risk losing your unemployment. Also, many college graduates are finding themselves strapped with student loans AND still having a hard time finding a job. Child care is expensive, and the stress from being unemployed and needing money may keep you from obtaining your goals.

3. Learn a trade, a skill, or take a class. Some skills can be turned into money making opportunities. Still others will save you money. Use what you have. Have a lawn mower? Put it to use. Have a talent with the piano? Teach lessons. Sewing machine, sew! This could help you make a bit of extra money to get you through.

4. Put the kids to work! I have an 11 year old who will do just about anything to get some extra money! Have them take surveys, click ads, or write articles (just make sure they are only doing the clicking. Being the honest person you are, it should be easy to sit one of your children down with a laptop on the kitchen table. Teach them to click the ads and check them out while you are cooking, folding laundry, etc. Give them a "cut" when you get paid, and have them put it towards, for example, that new pair of shoes they wanted. If you have older kids, help them start their own business mowing lawns, babysitting, petsitting, etc. It won't help you directly, but it could lighten the expense load when that kid can pay their own way when they want to go out with friends or that expensive new shirt. I put together a few money making websites that I use HERE. Some sites are better than others, but then again, I like to balance my day with things that actually require thought and attention and things that don't (things my kids can help with or that allow me to do two things at a time!)

5. Get back to basics. Work backwards. Do whatever you have to do (legally of course!) to help you get back on your feet! Rent an apartment and be content until you are able to pay cash for a condo, and work your way up. I know this sounds difficult if not impossible, but following these tips, and having a dedicated place to put this money will help you. Maybe start with a inexpensive lot and put a small trailer or even an RV on it until you can afford to build your own home.

6. Get creative! This is the single most important thing! When you have no money and few job prospects, the easiest thing to do is to save money. Once you count sales taxes and income taxes, for every dollar you save, it could actually save a lot more. Do your own math, and find out what that dollar burger really costs you once you pay Uncle Sam.

solar cookers

2011-02-26T15:57:00.001-05:00

Solar ovens can help save money on your cooking expenses. Solar ovens use the sun to cook your food. This is an effective, green way to save money. Because it can effectively reduce your cooking costs, you can get a fast return on your investment.

If you have ever considered cutting down your electric expenses, this is a great way to start. You can recoup your costs in as little as a summer if you learn to use it often. It is not difficult to set up, and most are very user friendly.

Solar ovens work best, of course, on sunny days. Solar ovens do not cook as fast as a traditional oven, they are more comparable to a slow cooker.

Many models fold up pretty small, so if you like to camp or take road trips, it is a great way to cook your food. You can even heat it up at picnics and BBQ’s.

There are many books available that cater strictly to solar cooking. There are also many different models of solar ovens, including ones you can make on your own. These may not be cost effective in the long run, but if you decide to try it out, it may be an interesting project. I have never tried any home made models, as they are inexpensive to buy. I can not see any savings after putting in the time and money to make my own.

If you are looking for a good way to lower your cooking expenses, try a solar cooker.

There are some great options available for both a solar oven and cookbooks on amazon.

WRMN1410 a hidden gem for travel

2011-02-06T00:31:00.001-05:00

WRMN1410 is a radio talk show based in Elgin, IL. It gives discount certificates for everything from food to hotels. Most of the discounts are only in the Elgin area. EXCEPT for the totally awesome hotel deals. You can be from anywhere and purchase the hotel nights here. Some now can even be purchased online.

If you are not picky where you want to vacation, or have a general idea, check out what they have. We used a certificate when we lived in Illinois for a weekend getaway to Traverse City, MI. We saved a ton of money, and the hotel was beautiful. It was right on Lake Michigan and we LOVED it. The best part was is that the hotel was a $200+ rack rate hotel which we got for $79 for two nights!

They have great deals all over. Check them out and see if they have what you are looking for!

TRICKS TO SAVING MONEY WITH HOTELS- GET THE LOWEST PRICE POSSIBLE IN 5 EASY STEPS!

2011-02-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

When we were planning a trip to Disney World for this month, we were trying so hard to find the best price, we looked for a WEEK to find the hotel we got- actually my husband did. There are great prices all over the place. This post should be able to serve as a guide to get the best prices on hotels.

Before I go any further, if you need some ideas on WHERE to go, check out my WRMN1410 post and our experience with them. They have some amazing deals, especially for weekend getaways.

Here is how you do it:

1. First of all, go to any site and find a hotel like you normally do.

2. Then, once you find a hotel, go to Kayak. Look up the hotel, and it will automatically compare the prices for you. Take the sites with the 3 lowest prices and write them down.

3. Then go to rewardsdb and look up the maximum cash back (change dollars into percentages for an easy comparison).

4. Then look up coupon codes. These are all over the internet, the best site I have found is Retailmenot
.

5. Find the top choice and book the best deal. Don't forget to go through the cashback program to book it, or you will not get the cash back! Make sure you enter the coupon code too.

You may be able to get a better deal if you look long and hard, but it won't be much better. This is generally a great way to get the best deal no matter where you are going and when.

Advantages of a Big Family

2011-02-05T16:35:00.001-05:00

There are SO many advantages to having a big family. First of all, every child after the first is "cheaper" so to speak. Clothes can be passed down, you get multi child discounts, and adding another is NOTHING like having your first. If you are a stay at home mom, formula and diapers are your largest investment.

Being from a large family is good for the kids. We rarely have problems that single children families have. The kids are brought up sharing. While there are bouts of jealousy, we rarely have temper tantrums for things they want after the age of 2 or so. All of the children are more self sufficient than many.

Being a blended family, we have 3 big boys, 14,11, and 8 (my 14 year old stepson lives with his mother out of state), and 2 little boys- 17 months and 5 months. The little guys never miss out on attention as there are 4 people to cater to them, and the big guys love having their baby brothers around. The big boys will be family men when they grow up because they already know how to take care of children.

With 5 boys, if one needs help, there are 4 more that will be there for them. When we get old, chances are much better one will be around to help us too. We spend about as much as my sister spends on her child as we do on all four, if not less, due to me being a stay at home mom, and when I was working, we worked opposite shifts. Daycare is very cost prohibitive. This is the biggest consideration when you decide to have children. If you do not have to pay for daycare, there are more advantages to having a large family than disadvantages.

Watching your children grow and thrive is a great thing. I would not have my family any smaller if given the chance. Lots of kids are lots of fun and lots of love.

Backyard Chickens

2011-02-04T19:11:00.001-05:00

I am actually talking about chicken. I was very hesitant about pursuing this as the idea of cutting off a chicken's head was just too much for me. Then I found out I was not alone. Many counties, even in city limits allow you to raise chickens, including Tampa. Once you are completely set up, you can raise you own chickens for virtually nothing. Once you build a chicken coop, you will only have to feed them, and if you are like me, pay a butcher a couple bucks to take care of the "dirty work". In the meantime, you have a fresh steady supply of eggs. For food, you can fulfill most of their needs with making your own worm bin, and then throw in kitchen scraps or let them "free range" in your yard. If you do your homework, and eat as much chicken as we do, you can save a significant amount off your grocery bill.

No yard or chickens illegal in your area? Look into quail. They are a delicacy and also an save you a lot of money on your grocery bill. They provide eggs, just like chicken, only their eggs are smaller (about 3-4 equal a chicken egg).

five ingredient or less dinners

2011-01-26T23:29:00.001-05:00

Mexican shredded chicken

Chicken (see notes)
Taco seasoning- 1 to 2 pkgs.

This is a GREAT cheap way to fill any Mexican dish. It is healthier than hamburger and much cheaper. While recently I have not been able to find hamburger meat for any less than $3 per pound, some part of a chicken is ALWAYS on sale at some store for far less than 99c/lb, and I have seen as low as 29c per pound (though very rare!) Turkey during and after Thanksgiving has had similar great deals. Turkey can be used in the same way. I am hesitant to say this is a recipe rather than a trick. You can use any cut or even a whole turkey or chicken to do this. Pull out your slow cooker or solar oven. Cook chicken or turkey until done in a cup or 2 of water. Add ½ taco seasoning packet for additional flavor.

Pull the chicken or turkey off the bone in small pieces (in other words, I shred the chicken by hand). Place the bones back in a bowl or crock pot with the water. Discard the skin and fat. Take ¼-1 cup of chicken or turkey and bag it for tomorrow. Cook the remaining shredded turkey or chicken with the taco seasoning as you would taco filling. You can use this on “bowls”, burritos, tacos, or any type of Mexican meal. My husband favors this recipe over those chicken strips for $5-6/lb any day.

If you slow cook the bones in a few cups of extra water, you end up with an excellent broth for chicken noodle soup. Just slow cook it on low overnight, and in the morning strain the water. Add back in the cup of shredded chicken or turkey, add noodles and seasoning, and slow cook until noodles are ready to go. If you want, you can even add in some frozen veggies the last hour or so.

Happy eating!

How to spend less with the coupons you get

2011-01-26T09:11:00.001-05:00

ARE YOU A COUPON CLIPPER? Want to profit even more with one extra step?

Imagine getting an extra 10c for every coupon you print and use! My experience as far as food goes? I have never saved a dime using coupons over generic brands. One of a few things happens:

1. Brand name - coupon > generic brand
2,. 3 hours trying to match manufacturer coupons and store coupons= $10.00 savings???? (By the way, that is $3.33/hr.)

The truth is, there are FEW coupons that are “worth it”.

Here is MY List:

Formula- If you are uncomfortable with switching or trying generic brands, these will save you hundreds. The generic and Brand names are so similar it is incredible. The truth is, generic or brand name, the guidelines are extremely strict. But if you are not willing to try generics, sign up with Emfamil or Similac and they will send you checks regularly that will help with the costs of formula.

Diapers- I have yet to find a “Good Generic”. Diaper coupons are king. There is no substitute that stands up to luvs or pampers, so coupons are a must.

The only other things that we can not substitute are soda pop and Macaroni and cheese. My husband LOVES Velveeta shells and cheese, and Diet Rite just doesn’t taste quite right to me.

What are your “must haves”? Make a list, whether it is macaroni, shampoo, razors, or toilet paper. What does your family love that there are no substitutes for? Make that list, and cut coupons for those things. There are others, like Hot Pockets, that there usually aren’t generic brands for. These are always worth clipping too.

Just for that little extra bonus for your time and effort, sign up for either Inboxdollars or send earnings. Also sign up for Upromise. Upromise has exclusive coupons that will donate money to the kid’s college funds (or even yours!). Inbox dollars and send earnings offer you 10c for every coupon you print and use.