Lessons Learned From “The Tightwad Gazette”

I read The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn over two years ago and it really changed my mind about money and frugality.  The Tightwad Gazette is a compilation of newsletters written over many years by Amy and bound into one book. It’s a thick book that is completely fascinating. I would like to own it one day but for now I try to check it out from the library and re-read it once a year. Here are a few things I have learned through my readings.

There is nothing wrong with leftovers and substitutions in the kitchen. Amy encourages her readers to use up what they have and be creative in the kitchen. I learned that you can save the juice from canned fruits and use it in sweet muffins in place of water or milk. Now I often put juice from canned peaches in my banana muffins and reduce the amount of sugar the recipe calls for. I also learned that you can make various soups, quiches and muffins using leftovers from previous meals.

Setting up a price book can save you money at the grocery store. When we moved to our current area over two years ago, I diligently created a price book to be familiar with products and stores in our area. I have since relaxed on my price book, as I can list most of the prices at Aldis, but it would be helpful to re-create one so that I know a stock-up price for couponing.

When you need to solve a problem first look at what you have before running to the store to buy something. One example that she listed was creating birthday decorations from leftover colored school papers. She also had a lot of tricks for remodeling your home using what you have. Lately I have made homemade toys by using things from around the house.

Perhaps cloth diapers aren’t so bad after all. I had never considered utilizing cloth diapers until I read this book. At the time our apartment didn’t have its own washer/dryer so the laundromat bill would have canceled out any savings from using cloth. But when we moved to our current apartment I started researching cloth diapers and bought a few supplies for my kids. I have to admit we only cloth diaper half of the time, but my diaper bill is a lot lower than it could be. Simplemom has a wonderful series on the mechanics of cloth diapering.

These are just a few of the lessons I’ve learned from this book. I would be interested to know if others have read this, and if so, what did you learn?

Read more ways to save at Life As Mom’s Frugal Friday.

Great Links to Check Out

Here are some posts that I have found this week that I thought you might enjoy.

For the Mommas has a great post on stock up prices for toiletries. She lists both a buy price and a stock-up price. This a great place to start in making your own price book.

Simple Kids has compiled a list of favorite children’s literature from their readers. This would be a great resource when buying gifts or building up your home library.  I’m going to print out a copy and bring it with me to the library.

Get Rich Slowly has a comprehensive article on Planning a (Debt-Free) Dream Vacation. We are currently setting aside a specific amount for our family reunion this summer and that certainly keeps us from putting a vacation on a credit card.

Mama’ s Laundry Talk discusses Frugal Laundry Necessities. We have similar shelves in one of our closets and I love them.

Toddler’s Toy from Recyclables

I’m at a stage in my life where I have more time than money. I have found that being creative can save me a few bucks, and entertain my boy, Tigger. Here is a simple toy I made from things we had around the house.

A family member gave me a stack of old cards they weren’t using that Tigger could play with. I decided to make a container that he could drop the cards in and then dump out and start again.

I found an old corn meal container to use. I started by cutting a slit in the lid.

I could’ve stopped here, but I wanted to make the container a little more colorful. So I added construction paper and personalized it. I then dropped all the cards inside and let Tigger play to his heart’s content.

Now Tigger has a fun, colorful toy to play with made from recyclable materials. It keeps him and our budget happy, it works for me.

See more ideas at Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are That Family.

Homemade “Cars” Blanket: A Lesson in Perseverance

If I were good at sewing this would be a great “how to make a kid’s blanket” post. But the truth is that despite numerous 4-H sewing projects as a kid, and hours of tutoring by my mom, I’m still horrible at sewing. In fact, if Tim’s shirts need to be mended, he usually tackles that project himself. But I do try to save a few pennies where I can, and sometimes that involves sewing.

During my husband’s childhood he had a treasured blanket complete with roads that he could drive cars on to his heart’s content and he suggested I make something similar for Tigger. I had seen several rugs with roads and buildings designed on them, but never for less than $20, and the rough thing about a rug is that you can’t sleep with it. One night we saw some Cars fabric at Wal-Mart and as Cars is the most loved DVD in our home, I knew it was time to make a blanket.

After I had spent about $10 for the batting, material and thread, I set about cutting the material. I really should’ve listened to my mother better because I didn’t realize that some material is 36″ wide and some 45″ wide, which meant my fabrics and batting didn’t line up. So I called my mom, cut out a smaller size blanket, and pinned it.

I then started putting it together on my machine. After I had sewn up half a side, my husband informed me that the batting would end up on the outside of the blanket, (I told you he was much better at this). So I ripped out the tiny stitches, called my mom, whined to my husband and adjusted the stitch size on my machine. I forgot to mention another reason I don’t sew very often, I get a wee bit cranky.

So I finally got the two sides sewn together, sewed a circle in the middle to hold the batting together and put it on the floor. And, after all that hard work it looked perfect for a toddler’s blanket. Yes, some parts were wider than others, but it would perform its function and make him happy.

Sometimes frugality just takes patience and a willingness to try something, even if the process intimidates you. By sticking with sewing the blanket I saved a few bucks but most importantly poured my love into something for my child to cherish. In the future I will branch out for a few sewing projects, but at this moment I am using another frugal tactic to make Tigger an apron-bartering with a friend.

Homemade Crockpot Applesauce

Last week Aldi’s had a terrific sale on fruits. In the middle of January I got apples for $0.33/lb, and oranges for $0.38/lb. Needless to say that I stocked up so that we can enjoy the fruit for weeks (well maybe not the oranges, they’re a hot commodity for the men in my house). We will eat many of the fruit raw in lunches and for snacks but if some of the apples start to get spotty then I’ll make up some homemade crockpot applesauce

I had never thought about making applesauce in the crockpot until I read Allison’s recipe online. I loved how easy the concept was, since I love my crockpot and the thought of making applesauce seemed so daunting. But thanks to earlier preparation this recipe was a breeze.

This fall when apples were under $0.33/lb I stocked up on more than 20 lbs and took them to my mother-in-law’s. She graciously let me use her apple corer/slicer and and helped me prep all those apples for later baking. She added some cinnamon and sugar to half of the bags to use in pies or applesauce, and left the other half unsweetened. I then used these bags for muffins, apple crisp, or applesauce. Here’s what I did when I made applesauce last week.

I took a bag of sweetened, prepared, apples from the freezer.

I plopped it in the crockpot, and set it on low.

I waited until it smelled really yummy and the apples were mushy.

I enjoyed my yummy snack, and wished I had added another bag to the crockpot.

Storing and Rotating Children’s Clothing

This week, once again, it was time to rotate my little, chubby, 5-month old Sweetpea’s wardrobe. We’ve been blessed with a multitude of outfits and hand-me-downs from friends and family, and in our little apartment I had concerns about storing all of hers and Tigger’s clothes. I used to dread rotating Tigger’s baby clothes because I always felt disorganized. But somehow, with Sweetpea it wasn’t so daunting. Here are a few tips I’ve learned.

1) Decide how many clothes you really need. I know people who only have seven shirts and seven pants for each child, (plus I assume pajamas). Such limited outfits keeps their laundry at bay and their storage and expenses minimized. I’ll admit to having more than seven outfits for each kid, and I’m always amazed at how many outfits I put into storage or donate when rotating that clothing. Perhaps that’s because I keep Sweetpea in pajamas all day in the winter, or let Tigger run around without a shirt on in the summer year-round. These habits are things I need to take into consideration, when deciding how many clothes to keep.

2) Find a storage solution that works for you. Starting out I put Tigger’s clothes in empty diaper boxes, and stored them under his crib. But then I heard about the big Ziplok bags and decided to give them a try. They worked for me and the best thing was that I could easily view the clothing inside, and their smaller size limited the amount of clothes I would save. I store them under cribs, beds, and dressers due to the size of my apartment. My only complaint is that they don’t retain their smaller shape after being shrunken. I also have a couple of sizes of clothing stored in rubbermaid boxes.

3) Keep Track of What You Have

Last summer, I noticed Tigger was outgrowing his clothes and began looking through his size 2 pile. I was surprised to find only a few shirts and a couple of pants, and discovered I had dropped the ball on keeping track of his clothes. We had received hand-me-downs that only ran up to size 2 and I didn’t realize he didn’t have any more clothes. Luckily it was the start of garage sale season and I was able to find some cheap clothes. I tried to keep track of all our clothes in a catalog grouped by size, but I invariably lost the list, or forgot to record new clothes. I’m going to give this a go again this summer when garage sale season comes around so that I am not buying clothes that I already have. If I still can’t manage to keep a list of clothes I’ll just have to go through that size and make a quick  tally of what is missing.

4) Sort, Wash and Store New Clothes Right Away

Soon after giving birth to Sweetpea a good friend of mine blessed me with a trunkload of girl’s clothing ranging from newborn to preschool. I was very grateful but a little daunted with the enormity of the pile. Even though I wasn’t getting much done around the house due to Sweetpea, I made it a priority to take care of the clothing right away. That way I wouldn’t misplace any of the clothes and they would be kept in good condition.

I’m sure as time goes by our clothing system will change, but as for now this system is working for us and keeps all our children’s clothing manageable.

Going Paperless

The other day I walked into our apartment’s entryway to find our bank statement lying on top of our community mailbox, instead of being locked safely inside. Morbid tales of identity theft rushed through my mind and I quickly snatched the piece of mail. After a short discussion with my husband we signed up for online statements with that account.

Although I frequently tell my husband I prefer old-fashioned paper to online resources, my attitudes are quickly changing in-line towards his tech-savvy ways. We still have one or two bills trickle in through the mail each month, but now the majority of our budget, bill pay and even statements are stored online. This action saves us space, clutter and time, not to mention online statements prevents thieves from stealing our mail.

I have to say that except for tax purposes I find our need for actual bank statements obsolete as we check our accounts multiple times during the week and balance them against our neobudget account. I find toggling between my bank account and neobudget much easier than balancing transactions with a paper and pen. My statements are always weeks old and if I referred primarily to them my checkbook would quickly be out of balance.

When it’s time to pay the bills, I just have to check my husband’s e-mail for the amount and the date due and then pay it online through my bank. I can easily do this juggling a baby on my lap, which is a frequent occurrence. I know others swear by setting up bill pay in advance, but I haven’t tried that yet, I just pay the bills when the check deposits.

With the advances of paperless technology I feel more secure and organized in my financial dealings. Some things truly are better and easier online, while others (like a good book) will forever be the best on paper.

Grocery Budget Buster: Forgetting the Groceries

I poured over the ads, coupons and multiple couponing blogs to put together an awesome list for Meijers and Kroger last week. I was stoked that I found multiple items for free and had survived the five hours of errands with my two children.

I quickly unloaded my bags of groceries for pictures and found I was missing a bag. Somehow I had left all of the Healthy Choice entrees at the store that I had gotten on sale for about $6 total. A whole week’s worth of lunches for Tim were either sitting in some forlorn cart or abandoned at the customer service center, where I had to visit to use my high-value $5/5 coupon.

I called Krogers and there was no trace of my bag. They offered to let me bring in my receipt and get new boxes, but I declined as nap-time was approaching and we had plans for the rest of the day. I doubted whether they would let me bring in my receipt the next day, and I was too timid to go back, thinking that they might not trust me.

Although I scored some great deals, especially at Meijer’s, I was a little bummed that I had forgotten food at the store and wasted money. The best way to stretch your grocery dollars is to use your food up, and that’s hard to do if you leave the food you’ve paid for at the grocery store.

Chock this to a lesson learned in frugality. To see more frugal posts check out Life As Mom’s Frugal Friday.

Help For Haiti

Tonight as I sit in my warm house, surrounded by family, food, and running water, my mind turns to those in Haiti.  This past week they have been ravished by the earthquake and have lost homes, friends, parents, children, security, and perhaps even hope. As we sit thousands of miles away and watch the struggles on t.v., I am reminded that we too can help and give, whatever little faith, prayers, or money we can.

Crystal at MoneySavingMom is hosting a Helping Haiti blog drive. Bloggers around the web will participate in “Helping Haiti” and pledge to give a certain amount for every post blogging about Haiti and added to Mr. Linky from now until January 21st. For those without the means to give, you can still help post a blog or comment on sites raising money to increase their donations.

For those who have the means to give here are some links to well-known charities that have already begun serving in Haiti.

American Red Cross

LDS Humanitarian Emergency Response Fund

Catholic Relief Services

Numana

As my husband and I conversed over the tragedy in Haiti we realized how blessed we are. We know that going without a few wants for a month pales in comparison to the devastation of those affected in Haiti.I was preparing to link up and raise donations with others, but after talking with my husband we came to the agreement that we weren’t ready for such a public commitment. Instead, we will give a private donation to the LDS Emergency Response Fund.

I have been amazed that when we sacrificed to give to others, God has always returned our offerings. As Crystal said, “Even if it seems like it’s a drop in the bucket, remember that a bucket of water is made up of that–drops!”. Every dollar, dime, link and prayer will make a difference to those in Haiti. Please join the effort.

~Chelsea

Snowy Day: Reaping the Fruits of Summer Garage Sales

Tigger had a great time with his Daddy in the snow last weekend. As I watched them play I was amazed to notice that I had picked up almost all of his winter clothes at garage sales this past summer. Here is the rundown of his attire:

Hat (Free): It’s really his Daddy’s hat since we seem to have misplaced Tigger’s. But Tigger’s head is so big that it almost fits anyway.

Coat with mittens ($5-$10): Picked up at a garage sale, I forget the exact price. I love how the mittens are attached so that we never lose them.

Pants (Free): OK, so they’re not true snowpants. We layered his yellow swishy pants over some sweats and it kept him warm and dry. I believe both the pants were hand-me-downs. I don’t think he’ll have true snow pants for this season since we don’t have a backyard to play in and they’re so bulky to store.

Boots ($1): Picked up at a garage sale. This one was a steal.

Tigger had a great time playing in the snow, and it was even better that we were prepared and didn’t have to run to the store and pay exorbitant prices. I’m looking forward to summer for many reasons, and garage sales are one of them.

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