Gina's Rantings

ALL YOU Exclusive Free Lipton Tea Recipe Booklet

2012-01-31T10:23:00.000-08:00

ALL YOU Exclusive Free Lipton Tea Recipe Booklet

Recycling in the garden

2011-07-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

I am a novice gardener..I am however tinkering with gardening and trying to make some sort of effort little by little every year...adding more plants (hopfully ones that will spread and take over where the weeds are now). I am also finding fun uses for "decorating" in the garden. I ran across this site and thought I would share the info.

http://gossipinthegarden.com/recycling-in-the-garden/

I did not make this but here is a cute picture of a birdbath for the garden made out of stuff you have in your cabinets or just junk from the thrift store.

Again...did not make this but it is a cleaver way to use that pretty glassware we all have stashed away...In this one you actually take apart a solar light and put the components inside and put it in your garden to it makes a pretty display at night.

Did not make this one either..but cute example of garden art..I would put something in the goose planter like makebe a succulent of some type.

This is recyling at it's best in my opinion!

20 New Uses for Shampoo - Planet Green

2011-07-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Shampoo, if you are a smart shopper, can be very inexpensive. So finding more uses for this staple we all have sitting around the house just makes sense.

20 New Uses for Shampoo - Planet Green

Make Do and Mend

2011-06-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Check out this link...many of us are learning how to do this more and more. Some of us because of necessity and some of us just to be more environmentally conscious...either way...learning a new hobby that helps the household, retain the old and reuse what you already have is a good thing.

http://www.squidoo.com/make-do-and-mend-from-the-1940s

New Free Cookbook from Sun-Maid

2011-05-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here is another great free cookbook. I love cookbooks but I'm running out of room in my house to put them. So I choose to just download this and save it to my desktop so it is always within reach.

http://www.sun-maid.com/freebooklet/intro.html

Frugal with a Flourish: 10 Ways To Use Mason Jars in Your Home

2011-05-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

I love this article...who doesn't have Mason jars around the house...you can even pick them up at thrift stores and yard sales very inexpensively and reuse them all over y0ur home...this would be a great way to reuse and repurpose other jars from items you have used up like salsa, mayo, jelly...and the list goes on...

Frugal with a Flourish: 10 Ways To Use Mason Jars in Your Home

Gina's Rantings: More Uses For Beer

2011-04-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

Gina's Rantings: More Uses For Beer: "Check this out...and you thought it only caused pregnancy, hangovers and was the breakfast food of champions. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygre..."

More Uses For Beer

2011-04-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Check this out...and you thought it only caused pregnancy, hangovers and was the breakfast food of champions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20110429/sc_ygreen/ninesurprisingusesforbeer

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

2011-04-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

If my kids were still small or my grandkids lived closer (so I could spoil them rotten) I would totally do this! Keep this in mind for dying anything you want to change the color of as well....mother nature has the best colors available!

http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2009/04/04/how-to-dye-easter-eggs-naturally-a-tutorial/

Adventures of a Thrifty Mama in a Trailer Park Homestead: Bunny on a Budget--a Thrifty Easter

2011-04-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

This family has the best idea for a great Easter without breaking the bank! Adventures of a Thrifty Mama in a Trailer Park Homestead: Bunny on a Budget--a Thrifty Easter: "Since most people that read this probably celebrate Easter, I figured I should address it on this blog, hopefully before people go all nuts ..."

Great Giveaway!!

2011-04-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

I just entered to win an handmade quilt from @CuckooForC0uponDeals http://tinyurl.com/3dkz3j6~ Ends 04/19

Plastic-Free Living: Organic Gardening

2011-04-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

This is something I try to do more and more everyday. It is hard (and often times not the most frugal alternative) but take a look and see where you could cut out the plastic in your life. Plastic-Free Living

25 Things to do With Used Corks (Including Making Money With Them)

2011-03-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of reusing things around the house. It not only saves money but it also saves things from going into landfills. Check out this post. I found it very cleaver.

25 Things to do With Used Corks (Including Making Money With Them)

Home Made Coffee Drinks

2011-03-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I love specialty coffee drinks; I just don't like the specialty price that go with them. While out searching for coupons for my favorite items....i came across this website that not only gave me a coupon for something I use alot of; but gave me some great recipes for those occasional urges for those special drinks.

http://www.internationaldelight.com/Recipes

6 Little Things That Cost a Lot

2011-03-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

6 Little Things That Cost a Lot by Kathy Kristof

We all do it. We spend little amounts regularly on things like lunch, Starbucks lattes, manicures, golf -- maybe even for having a pizza delivered while you watch a weekly game on TV.

These seem like reasonable decisions about relatively small expenses. It's hard to imagine how much they add up.

The harsh reality is that each dollar that's spent today isn't available for something else tomorrow. And these little purchases have a way of robbing us of the things we really want.

Why? Most of us haven't stopped to consider whether that daily latte is truly precious to our well-being, or if it's just a habit. If it's precious, it's worth doing -- at least part of the time. But is it worth giving up the convertible Mustang that all those cups of coffee could otherwise have purchased?

These are actually the trade-offs we make when we don't look at the long-term costs of niggling day-to-day expenses. The chart below makes the trade-offs clearer by providing a 10-year and 30-year cost.

Expense Today Over 10 years Over 30 years

Pizza delivery $25 a week $18,661 $158,731

Coffee/donut $4 a day $22,389 $190,453

Smoking $35 a week $26,125 $222,223

Manicure $40 a week $29,857 $253,969

Lunch at work $10 a day* $37,322 $317,462

Golf $75 a week $55,983 $634,924

*work days only

The presumption is that if you hadn't spent this money, you would have saved it and earned an average of 8% on your investments. The expense figures are estimates, of course. Things like golf green fees can vary widely. And your personal money pits are probably different -- maybe you buy songs or videos each week, or regularly drop $10 to add games to your iPad.

That's not really the point. You can probably relate to the notion of $20 or two inexplicably dropping out of your pocket for things you never really focused on buying. When you see how those little things add up, you might choose to pay more attention.

What's your money pit? Have you ever tried to calculate the long-term cost? If you want to play, use the comments section to say what you buy regularly and what it costs. I'll do the math to let you know the long-term cost -- and even work it out for whatever time frame you want. 18 years? Game on.

This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit

Home Remedies

2011-03-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/photos/7-home-remedies-actually-work

Cheap, easy, home remedies for common ailments.

Free Seeds!

2011-03-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Check out this ability to get free seeds for your garden!

http://urbansustainableliving.com/free-seed-collection.html

Here is a way to make seed starters from old newspapers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW4t_6dTAvA

Free OXY Clinical Skincare Sample

2011-03-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Free OXY Clinical Skincare Sample

Free Dessert Cookbook

2011-02-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this free cookbook. Save it to your computer instead of killing trees! Something free and better for the environment...awesome!

http://www.mrfood.com/master_images/MrFood/MF-Desserts-eBook-FINAL.pdf

T-shirt scarf tutorial...awesome recycle idea

2011-02-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

See T Shirt Scarf and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

Cookbook Giveaway

2011-02-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

http://thehappyhousewife.com/cooking/5-dinner-cookbook/

Thrift Store Love

2011-02-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

Have I told you how much I love thrift stores? Yes? Well I'm gonna say it again. Was in Fort Collins again yesterday and found quite a few goodies again! And again, it was all 1/2 off there regular low price. I found like 5 more outfits for a friend of mine's new grandson, a blanket and a book for mommies..all things that look like they have never been used! I found a perfect birthday present for my friend Sandy (can't tell you what it is because she may see this post), I got a book that I"ll stash away for when someone I know and love is getting married. It's a book put out by Focus on the Famil called The First Five Years of Marriage. Large hardback book that will be sure to bless any new, couple. I found 6 perfectly good dvd's to send to my daughter to play for her little brothers and sisters when they are bugging her (a couple of JayJay movies and some Veggie Tales, these both have great morals to their stories), and of course got my grandson tons more of those hard, cardboard baby books. The best thing of all was watching it get all rang up and then they hit a magical button and half of the total disappers! It is beautiful!]

Free Chocolate Cookbook

2011-02-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

Oh..there is nothing at all I enjoy more than chocolate..it is one of my favorite food groups..you know, starches, fats, chocolate, fruits and veggies, etc.. So how could I pass up a cookbook strictly for the chocolate lover in me...and did i forget to mention, it is FREE!!

http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/free-chocolate-ebook

Free Valentine Dessert cookbook

2011-01-31T18:32:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Check out this free cookbook for goodies!

http://www.recipelion.com/master_images/RecipeLion/Sweets-For-Your-Sweet-21-Cute-Dessert-Recipes-For-Valentines-Day.pdf

Free Sunmaid cookbook

2011-01-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a link for a free Sunmaid Fruit and Sunshine cookbook. You can choose to have them send you one or do like I did, and just save it to your computer...saves trees and mailing costs for the company! Enjoy! Saving it to my computer helps with my clutter issues too ;)

http://www.sunmaid.com/fruitsunshine/intro.html