For a while now I have been a member of a website called PaperBack Swap. 

It has been such a blessing to our family! We have saved $89.87 in book expenses.

Here is a blurb from their website,

We help avid readers Swap, Trade & Exchange Books for Free.

• It’s easy: List books you’d like to swap with other club members.
• Once a book is requested, mail it to the club member.
• In return, you may choose from 5,144,919 available books!

- Books you request are mailed to you for free.
- No late fees. No hidden charges.

Currently, when you list 10 books to swap, you get 2 free credits, which means you can order 2 books right away!  They have all sorts of books, fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, children’s books, and textbooks. 

Check them out!

Originally posted in 2009

Since I had some extra time on my hands yesterday, I finally got around to trying to make Pita Chips at home.  You can usually find different varieties of pita chips in your grocer’s deli, but they can be a bit pricey, considering the amount you get, roughly 18 oz. for about $3.00. So, when I was shopping last week, I saw whole wheat pita bread on sale for $1.00 for 12 oz. So, I thought, what the heck I’ll give it a try.   Here’s what I did…

Cut the Pita bread into triangles and arrange on a baking sheet.

.

**Note**  I think next time, I will also separate the pita pockets, before I cut them so the chips will be more crisp.

Then, drizzle a small amount of olive oil on each piece and brush to make sure they are covered.

Last, generously sprinkle with garlic salt. You could also add other flavors, like Parmesan cheese.

Pop them in the oven to bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes, flipping them over once in the middle of baking.

These turned out great!  The kiddos love them and they are a healthy alternative to potato chips.  It’s also a quick and simple recipe, and frugal!

When we purchased a new front-load washer a few years ago, one thing that I sort of knew going into it was that I would have to deal with a musty/mildewy smell.  Especially since my washer is located in a room that is not air conditioned. So, once a week or so, I run some bleach through the  “clean washer” cycle and that takes care of the odor  However, I have also learned that a little color-safe bleach goes a long way in helping keep the odor from my laundry.  Especially when I certain young man puts a load of laundry in and then forgets about it all weekend….blech!

Well, I had run out of color-safe bleach because the weather has been so mild, mildew hasn’t been an issue.  So, yesterday on our weekly shopping trip I planned to buy the generic color safe bleach, even though it wasn’t on sale.  MAN!!!  Roughly $7.00 for generic color safe bleach.  As I was standing there, contemplating how bad it would be to make a certain young man wear moldy smelling clothes, something caught my eye.  It was this….

Hmm.. chlorine free bleach… it says color-safe right on the front too.  The ingredient list was pretty much the same, the price was not!  Brace yourselves, $1.69!  Woo Hoo, that went in the buggy.  So, we are trying it out today, and so far, so good!

In my failed attempts to make some cute Easter cupcakes for the kiddos I needed some blue colored sugar.  Of course, I didn’t have any, and I surely didn’t want to go to the store for a measly bottle of colored sugar.  Then, I remembered my handy-dandy friend the internet, and I Googled “make your own colored sugar”.  So, here are the directions, and yes they are super easy!

Start with about 1/4 cup of sugar in a small dish, something with a lid would be good.

Next add 5 drops of food coloring of your choice…I needed blue.

Then, using a small whisk, mix the food coloring through the sugar.

And last, put the lid on the bowl and shake vigorously

Presto!  Blue sugar!

Math time!  1/4 cup of sugar costs approximately 6 cents.  The food coloring I would estimate to be less than 1 cent.  So, I have 1/4 cup of blue sugar for maybe 7 cents.

The best price I found online for 1/4 cup (or 2 ounces) $2.49 for a saving of $2.42, plus my time and effort to go to the store, not to mention the price of fuel these days.

Originally post on The Frazzled Mama on April 2, 2009.

1. Disinfectant for hard surfaces.  Think bathrooms, kitchens, floors.

2. Fabric softener.  Add to your laundry instead of fabric softener.

3. Gum removal.  Soak gum in vinegar and then scrub with toothbrush.

4. De-greaser. Works great on stove tops!

5. Wash for fresh veggies. 1 tablespoon to 1.5 quarts water.

6. Deodorize garbage cans.

7. Removes mineral deposits.  Think coffee pot, shower head, planters.

8. Cleans your dog’s ears and helps reduce ear scratching.

9. Iron cleaner. Use equal parts vinegar and salt.

10. Helps remove acidic stains from clothing.  Think mustard, spaghetti sauce, catsup, and BBQ sauce.

Please enjoy this post from 2009.

Isn’t God’s timing cool?  Last night our devotion with the kiddos was about the parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25.  For those who don’t know, basically the parable is about 5 wise girls and 5 foolish girls.  The wise girls had brought extra oil for their lamps so they would be ready when the bridegroom came. The foolish girls did not, and ended up missing out on the wedding feast.  We were drawing out the practical application of being prepared, here on earth, as well as, the application of having our hearts prepared to meet the Lord when he returns.

So, today was grocery day, and as Providence would have it, we did exceptionally well at the grocery store today and were able to stock up. But, I am getting ahead of myself.  This is my pantry…

It is located in my utility room, which is just outside my kitchen door.  A little unconventional, but you know me, I am all about working with what I have!

See how nice and stocked it is?  It wasn’t like that last night, in fact it was getting rather bare.  I had just commented to Mr. OverKill that I hadn’t seen as many of the good “stock up sales” lately.  But, the Lord provided and now we are stocked up, hopefully until the next sale.

Now, I don’t shop like my Mom (sorry Mom!)  When I was growing up, Mom would make a list of what meals she wanted for the week and make a list of what we were lacking to make those meals happen and that was her grocery list.  Now, that’s a nice way to operate, but in lean times, with 4 bottomless pits running around the house, I can’t shop that way. If you were to look at what comes home with me from the grocery store, you might wonder just what kind of concoction I am planning to feed my family that week.

Typically, what I do is shop the sales.  And when the sales are good I stock up.  I even have my 4 kiddos trained to the look for the “Buy One Get One Free” signs.  They are really learning too!  Today Bubba said, “But Mom, the doughnuts are Buy One Get One Free” this week, can’t we get them?”  I was tempted, but No!  Doughnuts are evil and must not be allowed in my home

For the most part, I don’t buy something if it’s not on sale, unless I am desperate.  It does take a bit of time to build up a pantry so that you can shop this way.  But I’ve been doing it for years now and it seems almost second nature.  I also have 2 extra freezers that come in handy when I find super sales on meat and fish, like turkeys after Thanksgiving and Christmas, 29 cents a pound. Or for buying beef in bulk, etc.

This week at Publix they are having their big Italian sale.  It’s one of my favorites, not to mention Juicy Juice being on sale BOGO too!

They even had Olive Oil, BOGO. Best price I have seen since going to a warehouse/club store.

This week I also started using The Coupon Mom’s Strategy for applying the coupons when items are on sale, to get the lowest price.  I LOVE doing that, I just didn’t have the time to figure out the whole coupon/sale coordination thing.  But if you visit her site, The Coupon Mom does all the hard work for you!

Sugar Belle has become my chief coupon cutter, and she was shocked at how much we saved today!

Drum roll please……..

And no, I didn’t spend $300, I only spent $40 more than usual, $190.68.  Not too shabby!!! And now our pantry is restocked.

Sugar Bell even said, “Hey Mommy, now we are prepared!”

Since posting this article, I have started using True Couponing and Southern Savers as my coupon match up resources.  I find that they are more reliable for my region. Oh, and my pantry has been divided, now I have food stuff in the hallway closet, and household/personal goods out in the utility room.  Stock on!

This post originally debuted on my blog back in 2008.

Remember this guy????

Yesterday, he asked me for my doughnut recipe.  Isn’t he cute?  What’s funny is that he heard that I had given out a recipe the other day for Greek Chicken.  Since that is something that I never do, he was hoping that maybe I would give him my doughnut recipe.  So, just for my Stubborn Nefew, here it is…..

Hold on now, this is a hard recipe and you might just cringe and say no way!!!!

The Frazzled Mama’s Doughnuts

The first thing to do is get the dough ready, now this is hard, you have to peal the paper off just right……

Then lay the dough out in nice round circles…. Once you have that done, take the lid off a soda bottle and punch out the middles…

Next, you drop the doughnuts into some hot oil…

And flip after a minute or so, just so that they are a nice light brown color, see?

After another minute or so, remove to a paper-towel lined plate…

When the doughnuts have cooled just a tad (and only a tad or the sugar will NOT stick!) coat with powdered sugar.

Make sure you get sugar in every crack and crevice…

Then, share with your favorite Stubborn Relative!

By the way, I posted this under The Frugal Frazzled Mama, because I can make 40 doughnuts for approximately $3.50.

I think that it is safe to say that at this point, most people have tried a Swiffer of one kind or another.  I really like using my Swiffer, it’s convenient, it’s lightweight, and best of all the kids can use it with ease.  So what is the hate part of this relationship?  The cost!  I purchased a Swiffer Mop not too long after we moved into the house we live in now.  It has hard surface floors throughout more than half the house, so I rationalized that this was good investment.  It wasn’t!  The mop refill only cleaned my floors one time.  So, let’s run the numbers shall we?  (I took my pricing information from Amazon.com.) So, the mop itself cost $21.99.  Now, this is a starter kit, so it does come with one bottle of cleaning solution and 2 cleaning pads.  So, there we have the initial investment.  Now, on my floors I was using 1 pad, average replacement cost is 58 cents per pad, and an entire bottle of solution, at $3.99.  Bringing my total to $4.57, before lovely taxes.  So, aside from my initial investment, I was also spending $4.57 each time I mopped my floor, which is about 3 times per week (minimum) for a grand total $13.71, just for kicks..that’s $54.84 a month and $658.08 per year.  I can think of a lot of better things to spend $658.08!  So, lets check out an equally convenient, but less expensive alternative.  First of all, I picked up my current Swiffer (a Max even!) at my local Habitat Restore for $3.00.  So that is my initial investment.

This is the first time I’ve ever had a Swiffer Max and I think I like it. For mopping I use the regular Swiffer, not the mop.

Instead of using the disposable pads, I use rags.  I found that a washcloth fits the regular size Swiffer perfectly.  I just use my old dishrags, or cut up old, hole-ridden towels to fit.  The Swiffer Max takes a bigger rag, more like a hand towel size.  The benefit here is that I didn’t have to pay for the rags, I already had them on hand.  Also, they just go in the laundry hamper with all the other kitchen laundry and get washed up.  So there is no waste, good for me, good for the environment.

So, I just wrap the rag around the bottom of the Swiffer, and push it down into the little groves on the top, like so…

Here’s what it looks like…..

It’s not terribly attractive, but saving money is always a beautiful thing.

Ok, cleaning solution.  I only use distilled vinegar on my floors.  Vinegar naturally kills mold, bacteria, and neutralizes odors, and is not harsh like some chemicals. It is also safe for children and pets.  Some people dislike the smell of vinegar, but it only lasts a few minutes.  Let’s talk numbers again, shall we? (Like you have a choice).  I buy vinegar in a 1 gallon jug at a cost of $1.69.  I estimate that I use about 1/4 cup of vinegar in my spray bottle, and then top it off with water, for an estimated cost of 2 cents.  I can easily mop all of my hard surface floors with one bottle of cleaner, and I usually have some left over.  So, to compare the “operating” cost of the Frugal Swiffer at 2 cents per use, to the Original Swiffer’s operating cost of $4.57.  I believe the Frugal Swiffer wins, coming in at about 6 cents per week, 24 cents per month and $24.00 per year.  Keep in mind I didn’t add in additional cost of cleaning the rags, simply because they go in with another load of laundry, not their own.

So, as I said I add about 1/4 cup of vinegar to a spray bottle, and top it off with water.

Then, I spray down the pad, and give the floor a light misting, as I go.

The results are great!  Here is a before of my kitchen floor…..

and the after…

No sticky residue, no harsh chemicals, and not a ton of effort either.  Most things come right up with the vinegar, and for more stubborn spots, I spray some vinegar on and let it sit for a minute, then it wipes right up.

Mop on!

Ok a few thoughts and frugal tips on laundry.

Let’s talk about detergent for a minute, shall we? (Like you have a choice).  I only buy Tide.  There are a lot of reasons for this.  My mom always bought Tide, for one thing. I know, not the most valid reason, but I digress.  We are also a household of sensitive skinned people, and Tide agrees with all of us.  Now, if you were to walk into your local grocery store and pick up Tide off the shelf, no sale, it can be a bit pricey.  As for me, I never buy Tide unless it is on sale, and then I stock up.  The neat thing about Tide is that you can use about half of what the directions say on the bottle and your clothes will still come out clean.

Now for a very uncomfortable subject….drying.  Before your un screaming, hear me out.  I have not used my dryer for at least a month now.  I try my best to hang all my clothes out on the line.  Hubby has installed two clothes lines for me under our carport and I can fit either 2 loads of laundry from a regular washer (which we had, but no more), or one load from our new front loader.  Living in Florida does give me a slight advantage because it gets so stinkin hot, that some days the laundry drys in about 1 hour.  However, if it rains, you might as well plan on that laundry taking all day.  It’s even been known to take all night too. Tee Hee.  We typically do about 1 or 2 loads a day, which makes line drying a very feasible option for us.  It saves us about $100.00 a month on our electricity.  That’s a $1200.00 saving over the course of one year!  Yes, it takes a little bit more time to hang them out, but I think the payoff is well worth it.  Keep in mind that taking clothes off the line and folding them is a great way for younger children to help out around the house.  If it isn’t their own clothes, I pay my kiddos 25-50 cents to take clothes of the line.  What a bargain!  Consider also, that when you line dry your clothes, you extend the life of them quite a bit, as drying is very hard on most fabrics.  What’s that you say? You hate the way the clothes feel coming off the line?  Well, my good friend throws hers in the dryer for about 5 minutes just to soften them up.  I used to do that, but the extra step wasn’t worth it to me.  Plus, we have found that the clothes soften up after only a few minutes of wear.

When using a dryer for your laundry, many people use dryer sheets or fabric softener.  Since we occasionally use the dryer, I do have some dryer sheets around for use especially in the winter, when static cling is a big problem.  I have on big box of Bounce (I think), that has lasted me forever.  Did you know that you can cut those baby’s in half and they work just as well?  I learned that trick from my mother-in-law.  Generally speaking, I do not use dryer sheets, unless we are having issues with static cling, simply because of what I stated earlier, the clothes soften up after a few minutes of wear.

One last laundry tip, never iron unless you have to……smile it was a joke!

Remember how I said I was born with a frugal gene?  My grandmother and I used to hit garage sales every opportunity we got.  Today, my kiddos and I are always on the look out for a garage sale sign.  There are so many great bargains you can find at garage sales and thrift stores.  But there are a few pitfalls as well.  Today I am going to give you my tips for garage sale shopping success, and share some of my finds with you.

First a find.  This jacket has become my favorite, and yes I snagged it at a garage sale.

Isn’t it cool?  It’s cooler than me

My proof that its cooler than me?

Yeah… so would you like to know what I paid for this gem?  Like 10 cents.  I know!!!

My first tip would be to have a list, mental or physical of things you need. Garage sales can be a huge temptation for bargain hunters (of which I am one).  Here’s the scenario:

You’re at a great garage sale, and you find a Jack Lalanne juicer for $15.00. A juicer is not on your list of things you need. But, the bargain hunter in you is screaming, “Buy buy buy!” You snatch it up, and with no haggling, hand over $15.00 for the juicer.  Now, from this point, there are several scenarios. Number 1, you get the juicer home, clean it up, plug it in and drink your way to a healthier life.  This scenario is highly unlikely if you have no experience with juicing whatsoever, but it could happen. Number 2, you get it home, clean it up, plug it in, and nothing happens.  You’ve just wasted not only the $15.00, but also your time, and now you have to get rid of it. Number 3, you did in deed purchase a working juicer, you use it once, decide it’s not for you, and it sits on your counter collecting dust, until you finally get rid of it yourself. 

Now, I know what your saying, “It’s only $15.00.”  True!  But that is still a lot of money for a counter-top ornament, that collects dust.  It ends up being wasteful.  So, have that list ready in your head, on paper, or written on your smart phone!

Back in February, on our anniversary, Mr. OverKill and I were browsing through IKEA and found some dishes we thought we would like to purchase.  Since neither one of us felt certain that the dishes would work for us, we walked away, knowing we can always go back to IKEA.  The dishes were about $50.00 for a set of 18.  Not bad, but eh.

A couple days after our trip to IKEA, I was browsing through our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and guess what I found?  A few of the exact same IKEA dishes! See?

Aren’t they cool?

Neat shape…check out the price…

Check out the date?  Our anniversary!  Share your list with God, seriously we prayed about dishes, and we got the exact dishes we looked at!

My next tip is, after you share your list with God, share your list with friends and family who also bargain hunt..  Recently, I found a large capacity, Kitchen-Aid stand mixer for $15.00.  These bad boys are hundreds of dollars new.  So, I gave a ring to a friend who had mentioned that she was going to need a new mixer soon.  She was thrilled and I was thrilled to be able to help her out.  This scenario leads me to my another tip, always check electronics to be sure they work before you buy.  When I asked if I could plug the mixer in, I was told that they did not have a power source available at the garage sale.  At this point, I typically do one of two things.  I ask if I can bring the item back if it doesn’t work, or negotiate for a lower price.  In this instance, I was told I could bring it back for a refund if it did not work.  Guess what?  It did!  Yeah! In another instance I was able to purchase a fan for a quarter, simply because the seller couldn’t prove the item worked. By the way, it did work!

Which leads me to, haggle, haggle, and then haggle some more. Not really, but sort of.  If you think an item has a fair price, then pay it.  If you think the item is priced too high, make an offer.  Many times people are willing to negotiate on their prices.  But, make sure to have some class about it.  Don’t offer someone 25 cents for an item that is marked $10.00.  Sellers will not be willing to bargain if you are rude, or unrealistic.  Bottom line, don’t offend the seller. If it’s an item you really want, but have a budget for, have that amount of money in your hand when you approach the seller.  This lets them know that you are serious about purchasing the item, and many times, they will accept your offer.  My kiddos are hilarious, they always ask if people will take less!!! And you know what, people will cave easier for a kid, most times

My last tip is in regards to garage sale/thrift store shopping with children.  I have learned that if I give the children their own money before we head out, it curbs the “I want it!” syndrome.  I always say, “You have your own money, do you want to use it to buy this item, or wait and see what else we find?”  It’s a great money management learning tool that doesn’t cost you a fortune.  I typically give each kid $1.00-$1.50. They have to do all their own negotiating and paying.  They are also learning about buyers remorse, and the fact that some garage sale days end up being a bust. 

You aren’t always going to walk out of a garage sale with a $50.00 jacket for 10 cents, but what a thrill when you do!