Make your own laundry detergent in less than 10 minutes

I originally posted this in 2008, but thought that I would revisit this little gem since it is time for me to make more detergent. This is a tutorial on how to make the powdered version of laundry soap. I hope to be able to put up pictures of how to make the liquid kind later on today. I prefer the liquid since it lasts longer in this house, but I will whip up a small batch of powdered if I'm in a pinch. No more running to the store just to pick up detergent so I can conquer Mt. Laundry.

This is another one of those things that I would have never thought I could do until I saw it on a website I visited. It looked really easy and inexpensive. If it's easy and cheap and works well, then I'm all for it.

I have seen a few laundry detergent tutorials out there, but none for the powdered version. My girls are the one who really wanted to do this tutorial. This was their first time making detergent. They were 14 and 12 at the time. So, as you can see, it is so simple that even a child could do it.

To start with you'll need 3 ingredients:

• Borax - 1 cup
  


• Washing Soda - 1 cup
  


• A laundry soap bar--->Fels Naptha or Zote - 1 cup
  

Many people have said that they have had a hard time finding the washing soda or the Fels Naptha. The easiest way to find Fels Naptha is to go to this website. Under brand you click on laundry care and under item click on Fels Naptha. Then you can type in your zip code. It will tell you all of the stores around you that carry it.

To find the washing soda call this number. 1-800-524-1328. It is a recording that will give you a list of stores that carry washing soda in your area.

What to do:

1. Measure out 1 cup of Borax and put into a bowl

2. Measure out 1 cup of washing soda and put into a bowl

3. Grate 1 cup of the soap bar. Add to bowl with Borax and washing soda. I am using Zote this time. I usually use Fels Naptha, but found this at my Super Target and thought I would try it.











4. Mix well

5. Put in storage container---> In this case we are using an old cool whip container

6. Use 1 Tbsp per load.

That's it. It's as easy as that. It only cost me pennies per load. A very frugal alternative to store bought detergent. It works well too. If I have a really dirty load I will up the amount I use by a small amount. I know that people use Oxyclean also. Have you made your own laundry detergent? What did you think?

Pictures of making this version later!

Liquid Detergent:
Washing soda 1/2 cup
Borax 1/2 cup
Bar of laundry soap 1/2 bar (Fels Naptha or Zote)
Bucket
4 cups of hot water in large bowl

Directions:
Grate soap and put in a large saucepan. Add 6 cups water and heat until soap melts. About 15-20 minutes. Add washing soda and borax. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour the 4 cups of really hot water into your bucket. Add soap mixture and stir. Next, add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let soap sit for 24 hours before using so that it gels. Use 1/2 cup per load. If you are using a front loader use less than this.

Now, sometimes I add just a tad more soda and borax than the recipe calls for. In the summer is when I do this more as the children get dirtier. I put mine in a 2 gallon bucket with a lid. It fits on my shelf better. One more thing. As the detergent is gelling overnight, we take a hand immersion blender or my husband takes his drill with a paint stirrer attachment and will mix it up a few times. I find it just holds together better. Now, it will separate sometimes, but just mix it up before you use it!

Making your food last by preserving it

Last time I posted I talked about our garden and how it really was worth the time involved. You can read about it here. Now i'd like to talk about preserving food.

So you plant a garden and it does well. It does REALLY well. What do you do with the abundance of vegetables out of your garden that you get? The quick answer is to preserve them so that you can enjoy your garden all year long!

Preserving food is a lost art. It sounds so old-fashioned. I remember my watching my grandmother canning food as a young girl. It brings back fond memories of staying the summer with her. Eventhough I loved to help her, I still never learned to do it myself until recently. It was one of those things that I tucked away in my mind that I loved about Grandma's house, but never ever would do myself. Why should I, when I could go and pick it up already canned for me?

While it may be rather old-fashioned, it really is a great skill to learn for the here and now. We, as homemakers in the 21st century, in the age of rising grocery prices, faced with looming recession, and tainted food are having to look long and hard at the way we are doing things. Maybe our grandmothers and great grandmothers had it right. They faced many ups and downs, but they still fed their families affordable nutritious meals. We like to think that we've been freed from the chains of homemaking, but we've just traded it for a new set of chains.

There are a few different ways you can preserve your food. You can freeze, dry, pickle, or can your extras. Freezing is the cheapest way to preserve food and many times the healthiest, since it doesn't destroy any of the nutrients. With freezing you just blanch your vegetables first and then put them in a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer. To learn how to blanch your vegetables, read here. This is super easy and doesn't take much time at all. It is well worth it though.

I will not get into drying or pickling here since I don't do them. I do plan on making my own pickles one day, so i'll let you know how it goes.

The last way is canning. Initially, canning can get a bit costly if you let it. You need jars, a water bather, and pressure canner for many vegetables. You can find inexpensive jars at goodwill, garage sales, or off of your local freecycle. Since I do not have a pressure canner I stick to more acidic foods that are sufficent in a water bath. I will tell you though, I have canned many jars of preserves without any of these things, except the jars of course. You just have to make sure that you submerge your jars entirely as you give them a water bath.

This is a picture of a canning water bath.

If you would like to learn how to can there are many resoures out there. You can start with the Ball website. I also recommend the Ball Book of Preserving . I thought about giving a step by step tutorial on the canning process but there are so many online resources that you can look up that will get you started.

Of course, if any of you live near me, we could have a get together after we harvest a bit. We do this every year with my friend, Carlie. We pick our figs and then get together to start the process of canning strawberry fig preserves. I do enough to last us a whole year. Both of our familes look forward to this every year. I'm sure our children will remember this for a long time to come.

Since I do not have my own fruit orchard, I am limited to either buying or fruit or picking it locally. Many times you can find fruit to pick locally cheaper or even free. See my post here for more information on how to find free produce. To find local places to pick I always start with looking at this website. It lists places to pick according to state and it has information on canning, including recipes. I just love this site, but I have found other u pick farms around me that are not listed here, so always be on the lookout.

While preserving food seems like alot of work, it is beneficial to learn. I found it makes it nicer to include my children and my friends. Good company makes the work seem lighter. If you've read anything i've written, you will know that I love to do things that will make great and lasting memories. I love my simple life.

Menu Planning Monday: $60 week!

I have noticed that my trend of spending $60.00 has stayed for awhile now. I have no intentions of dropping my budget though. I will just continue to stock up as I can. It is nice to know that I could drop it even further if I had to.

This is my kick off post for a glimpse into my frugal lifestyle. This week I plan to focus on how we, as a family, practice frugality. It will give you a peek into our life, and how we make things work here with less money than many people live on with a much smaller family. Stay tuned, as it should be an interesting week!

Breakfast:

Monday: Baked Oatmeal

Tuesday: Waffles and sausage

Wednesday: Omelettes and strawberries

Thursday: Muffins and Sausage

Friday: French Toast

Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat

Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:

Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked

Tuesday: Ham, mac & cheese, and a veggie

Wednesday: Homemade tomato soup

Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit

Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers

Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:

Monday: Strawberry Shortcake--->yum!

Tuesday: Fruit

Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey

Thursday: celery and ranch or peanut butter

Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese, which the kids call "mini pizzas", or peanut butter, banana, and honey

Dinner:

Monday:

Homemade chicken pot pie

Pumpkin rolls

Tuesday:

Broiled Tilapia

Grilled vegetables

Yeast rolls

Wednesday:--->This was supposed to be last week!

Cajun Style Meatloaf

Homemade mashed potatoes

Green beans

Thursday:

Chicken and Stuffing

Corn

Friday:

Pizza night
Cheesebread

Saturday:

Meat and Potatoes

Corn

Yeast rolls

Sunday:

Italian sausage and peppers

Green beans

Garlic bread

For more great menus head over to Menu Planning Monday's, hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

CVS and Walgreen's were good to me this week!

It is always so nice to have a great week. It seems like the last few weeks have been kind of slow for the deals here, but they finally made up for it. I have paid nothing OOP for any of the deals I did this week, so I have made out really great.

I hit up my local CVS twice this week and then just today I made two trips to Walgreen's. I still need to go to Albertson's for my free bag's of salad. They are on sale 10/$10 and I have $1.00 coupons. I love free salad!

This is what I have gotten so far:


CVS:
3 packs Huggies Supreme
6 Degree deodorants
1 Cascade
3 Excedrin's
2 CVS brand Tylenol
1 Hefty trashbags
9 Essence of Beauty products

Total before coupons and ECB's was $66.52. Total OOP was $0.00. If I had not had my giftcard I would have paid $2.00 OOP. I made $41.00 in ECB's, which means I broke even. That was great for me since i'm not trying to build up, just roll them over now!

Walgreen's:
8 Naturemade Rx Essentials
4 Aveeno lotions
4 Aveeno baby products
4 Reynold's Aluminum foil
2 gallons of milk
1 fabric softener
2 packs of styrofoam plates
2 packs of styrofoam cups
1 pack of plastic silverware--->These last 3 things are for Baby B's birthday party tomorrow

Total before coupons was $106.87. I paid $0.00 OOP for all of this. Had I not had my giftcard I would have paid $5.00 OOP. I also now have $20.00 in Register Rewards to spend!

All I can say is, "Thankyou CVS and Walgreen's!"

How I Feed my Family of 8 for $300 a month Q&A- Part 1

I have gotten asked quite a few questions since beginning my grocery budgeting series. I thought that it would be beneficial to others to share some of the questions I was asked, and my answers. So here we go!

I wanted to ask you, you only spend $70 a week on food. Is it just on fill in what you are missing?

The short answer to this question is, yes. I do try to only fill in what I am missing.

This is one of the goals you should have when trying to save money on groceries. If you're having to buy every ingredient for every meal, it will get expensive.

This is why I put aside at least $10.00 every two weeks out of my budget money. It is to stock up on the great deals. I am starting to get a nice stockpile going so over the last few weeks the money I have spent has gotten even lower. I have been spending right at about $60.00 a week for the last month or so. This has given me even more money to stock up on the loss leaders.

I do still have things that I will have to buy no matter what. Like fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, and meat. Those things will never change.

I have 9 to feed... but we haven't quite got it to $300. How do you convince the kids they don't need milk ? :) I buy whole milk, pour out about 1/3 and fill it up with cold water... no one complains and when it goes down, I add the other 1/3 plus more water! Any other tips?

You wouldn't believe how many people think it's impossible to keep a grocery budget low because they buy so much milk. It is very possible! We go through quite a few gallons every week. What I do is budget for 1 gallon a week out of my money. I then will work a few more gallons into my CVS deals or into a grocery deal that i'm paying nothing for. It works out.

About adding water to the milk to drink. We don't do that, but sometimes I will add a little water to a recipe when it calls for milk. I buy only whole milk, so adding a bit of water doesn't hurt anything when cooking. It's a great money saving tip!

I was just wondering when you say you feed your family of 8 for 300 a month, is that just for food or does that include other things such as paper products, feminine care, cleaning detergents, etc? If it doesn't include those how much do you budget for those other things?

This is the biggest question I get asked by people. The $300 does include everything! If you've read my whole series then you know that I use CVS and Walgreen's to buy all paper products, feminine care, cleaning products, diapers, and more. I will say that my budget before learning to shop at CVS and Walgreen's was about $100.00 a month.

The past several weeks (about a month) we have been spending around $70 a week. It's my husband and I and 3 kids-ages 6,almost 4, and almost 1. I feel like I have to be doing something wrong considering what you spend on your size family. I have been menu planning and I feel like that has already made a difference. I use organic soaps, shampoos etc. I know that cost's more, but I wondered if you have any advice. If I can find a coupon online I will use it, but I don't get a paper. I do a lot of scratch cooking. I don't buy many box foods at all. I don't buy snacks very often either. We do homemade crackers or cereal, or some chocolate chips etc. I'm just wondering if you could give me any helpful advice to get my bill down even more! I don't do the cvs thing b/c I don't use many of those products.

I wanted to put this question in here because I wanted to show how no two families budgets will be alike. If you feel it important to buy all organic, then do so unless of course you just don't have the money. I will buy organic when I can, and we garden as much as possible, but I am not all organic. If I was, then I would need to increase my budget.

For this lady, I would say, get the paper! You never know what coupons you may find. I also say to shop at CVS and get things even if you don't use them so you can get the items you do use free. You can always bless someone else by giving them the items you don't use. Look online, there are printable organic coupons. Plant a garden, raise chickens for eggs and meat, ask your local freecyclers for produce, make your own soaps and cleaners. Even with an all organic diet, you can still save money, you just have to get creative.

Please don't look at my budget and think that you're doing something wrong because you're spending more than I am. There are alot of variables at play when planning a grocery budget. The goal is to save what you can, to make changes in areas where you can save, and to think outside of the box. All of us can lower our budgets by some if we have to, but it may not be the same as what other's are spending.

I think that I will wait and post all of the CVS and Walgreen's questions in another Q&A session. I love questions, so if you have any please leave a comment, or you can email to me at alifeathome@gmail.com

How I Feed my Family of 8 for $300 a month - Part 6

I have to say that the most common question that people ask me, after they find out that I only spend $300 a month on groceries is, "Does that include everything, or is it just for food?" My answer is "Yes, the $300 does include everything. It includes all paper products, diapers, wipes, and toiletry items."

The secret is, that I don't pay for any of these things. I get them for free! I get them free by shopping at CVS and Walgreen's. Some of you already know all about how to work the deals at these stores, but other's don't. The best place for a beginner that I have found, is at Money Saving Mom's website. She has tutorials you can read called, CVS 101 and Walgreen's 101. They will explain everything in detail, but I will try to give a quick run down of how things work.

So, how do I get it all free? I buy the weekly and monthly deals that the drugstores offer. The first thing people usually think, is that they will pay more for items at the drugstores. I know that I used to only shop at the drugstores when it was a middle of the night emergency. Many of the items they sell are overpriced, but by working out their weekly and monthly deals you actually save money. Although I shop at both CVS and Walgreen's, I am just going to focus on talking about CVS today because Walgreen's is a little tougher to figure out.

How to make CVS work for you:

1. Get a CVS card

They are located at the cash registers. You just have to fill out the information, turn it into the cashier, and then it is ready to use instantly. All of the deals are tied into this card, so you need to have it with you every time you go in.

2. Look at the weekly ad that comes out

You either will get one in your local paper, which you should be getting at least on Sunday's for the coupon inserts, or you can get one at the store. CVS also puts out a monthly booklet that has a few free deals in it. You can only pick those up in the stores.

3. Start small

When you are just beginning, don't do any big deals, and only work the ones that are going to be free. You can work your way up to bigger, more complicated deals after you understand how everything really works, and you do a few deals.

Take for instance, this week they have Softsoap Spa bodywash on sale for $4.99. That is not a good deal for bodywash, but by buying this bodywash you will earn $4.99 back in extracare bucks. That means that the bodywash is "free!"

I know some of you are thinking, "What are extracare bucks?" Well, extracare bucks are coupons that CVS gives you for buying cetain items. They print at the bottom of your cash register receipt, so don't throw it away! You can then use that extracare buck just like cash on your next visit.

When you are just starting out you will pay for the first one to two deals. After that, though, you can use any ECB's that you have earned to help pay for your next deal. Your goal is to earn enough ECB's to cover the price of future deals so that you never pay any money out of pocket again (OOP.) This is what's called, "building your ECB's."

When I first started going to CVS I earned less than $10.00 in ECB's in the first few deals I did, but now I have over $50.00 that I can use to pay for my deals. You really do not need that many, but I would say that $20.00 is a good number to stay at to be able to keep from having to pay anything OOP.

4. Buy the items that are free

Or close to being free after you earn your ECB's. I know it is tempting to buy other things that will give you a few ECB's back at the beginning, but like I said before, you want to earn more ECB's. By sticking to the free items you can generally build your ECB's up.

So how do you build ECB's when they are only giving you back the same amount it costs? Wouldn't you just come out even? Not necessarily. You use any coupons you have to bring down the price of the item. Let's look at the softsoap again. The softsoap costs $4.99, but there are $1.00/1 printable coupons here. that would bring down the price to $3.99, but you would still earn back $4.99. If you're one of the lucky ones, in some coupon inserts there were $1.50/1 coupons, making it an even better deal. So, you are actually earning back more than you are paying for the bodywash. That's what's called building your ECB's.

There are a few websites that you can visit where people will post all of the free deals and actually put together deals for you that will earn you the most money back. You can visit Money Saving Mom or Hot Coupon World. These are my two favorite sites for deals. Now that I have been doing this for quite awhile I don't always follow the deals they offer, but for a beginner, they are great resources.

5. Buy even items you don't need and don't be brand loyal!

There are many items that CVS offers free every week that I will buy eventhough I will never use it. I will still pick up those items if they will "make me money" so that I can build up more ECB's or at least just roll them over. What I mean by rolling ECB's is that I buy things to keep the same amount of ECB's up. They expire after one month, so sometimes you have to go to the store and do a deal before they do expire. You want to do a deal that will not lose you money. I just give away or donate the things I will never use. You can read my post on what to do with your CVS stockpile here.

6. Stockpile the items you do get so that you never have to buy them again

Your goal is to be able to stockpile a few of the necessities. Things like toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, etc. You don't really want to run out and have to buy them in an emergency. These frequently go on special, but it's better to keep a few on hand.

I want to show you one quick deal that I did today.

As you can see, I bought 5 Softsoap bodywashes. My total, before taxes was $24.95. I ended up paying $.08 OOP. I spent $16.00 in ECB's I had and earned back another $24.95. So I guess you can say that they paid me $9.00 to buy this bodywash. Not too bad!

There is so much more infomation I could give you. Working the drugstore deals can stretch your grocery budget so much. By working the deals at the drugstores, I am now free to spend more on food since I don't have to pay for anything else.

As you have found out over the last few weeks, there are many things that I do to keep my grocery budget low. It is worth it to me put a little effort into stretching the money my husband makes and still be able to provide good food for my family. If I can do it, so can you!

How I Feed my Family of 8 for $300 a month - Part 5

With the holiday weekend i'm a little late in getting this up, so please accept my apologies.

Ok, now on to business. This week I will cover stockpiling. Stocking up on items when they are vey low priced or free is a key to helping stretch your grocery budget. You don't want to have a completely empty pantry each time you have to grocery shop.

The goal is to shop for "fillers" for your meals, not for the whole meal itself. Now, I am not saying that is all I shop for. There are things that I have to buy each time I grocery shop, like fresh fruits, vegetables, flour, sugar, and meat.

I have a bi-weekly budget of $150. I do my menu plan for two weeks and then shop according to that menu. I know I have mentioned the fact that out of that budget I try to save at least $10.00 for any great deals that come up. Now, this 2 weeks I have an extra $30.00 that i'm excited to be able to use to stockpile. It doesn't happen very often that I have this much money leftover, so I plan to use it to help cushion my future budgets.

Let's take for example a deal or two that I know i'll be doing this week. I am going to buy 10 boxes of Green Giant vegetables and 10 Muir Glen organic tomato products. At Target they have a printable coupon for $1.00 off of any 2 frozen Green Giant vegetables. I have manufacturer coupons that I can stack on top of this.

I also have Muir Glen coupons for $1.00 off. Before any coupons the total I would have to pay for all of this would be $28.00. After using my coupons that total would drop to $8.00, which is still a great deal, but I have a $5 off of any $25 grocery purchase. That means I will pay right around $3.00. We go through lots of vegetables here, but I should only have to buy my fresh vegetables on my next shopping trip.

Another example is at Walmart they have Dino Bites chicken nuggets 2/$2.00. You can get a $1.00 coupon from Money Saving Mom, which makes them free. I don't normally buy this kind of stuff, but since it's free it'll make a nice quicky lunch if I need. I'll probably save them for after the baby is born.

Now, I do want to say that even though something may be a good deal, does not mean you have to stock up on it. If it is something that you will never use, unless it is free, then don't buy it. I will only get things that I don't use, if they are free, so I can donate them.

It is by watching for these kinds of deals that I am able to stock up. By putting aside a little each time I get my grocery money, I can afford to work the deals without blowing my budget. Then, when I am planning my next menu, I make my meals according to things I have on hand.

This is just one more tool for you to use. It is getting increasingly important to find ways to save money on food, since the prices keep climbing. It takes a little time to learn it all, but it is so worth it in the end. Stockpiling is an art!

Coming up next week: How to get free or even get paid to buy all of your toiletries and paper products at the drugstores. You definately don't want to miss this!

Kids choice week, $60 spent on this menu!!

This week is kid's choice week in the house! The children all pick out a meal that they want mom to cook. Now, my 3 yo son's first choice was McDonald's, but that is out! Do you know how much it costs to feed a family of 8 there! We compromised though and will have chicken nuggets for lunch(they are a vegetarian version....shh, don't tell him!)

After they pick out their meal, they have to help me make a grocery list for their meal. I help the little ones with this, of course. Lastly, they get to help mom cook their meal and then serve it. This is all their favorite thing to do. My 12 yo daughter loves to decorate the table so she will go all out. It is a fun week for the kids and mom, and as you can see, they generally pick meals I would have made anyway!

Breakfast:
Monday: Waffles and fruit, mom will eat eggs since I bombed my glucose test at the doctor's

Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal

Wednesday: Eggs Florentine and fruit

Thursday: Muffins and Sausage

Friday: French Toast sticks

Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat

Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:
Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked

Tuesday: Chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, and a veggie (3 yo son's choice)

Wednesday: Chicken Salad

Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit

Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers

Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:
Monday: Carrots and ranch dressing
Tuesday: Fruit
Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey
Thursday: Baked pepperoni(we do this every so often since I don't buy chips, they crisp real well)
Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese, which the kids call "mini pizzas", or peanut butter and honey

Dinner:
Monday:
Turkey noodle soup

We had turkey for Easter, so i'm gonna use the leftovers to make this

Tuesday:
Homemade chicken pot pie

Salad

Hearty herb bread

Wednesday: (10 yo son's choice)
Spaghetti and meatballs

Garlic bread

Thursday:
Chicken and sausage jambalaya

Corn

Dinner rolls

Friday: (5 yo daughter's choice)
Mini Cheese pizza's

Homemade pepperoni pizza rolls

Saturday: (12 yo daughter's choice)
Chili cheese enchiladas

Mexican rice

Salad

Sunday: (14 yo daughter's choice)
Sticky chicken--->yum!

Carrots and brocolli

Pumpkin rolls

For more menu plans, stop over at Menu Planning Monday at Organizing Junkie.

Quick tip on how to get free produce!

Fruit and Vegetables

I have been having multiple conversations with people lately about the rising costs of groceries. It seems as if some people are in a near panic about it, because it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon.

So, I thought I would offer one tip on how we have gotten free produce that has been a blessing to our family at different times of the year.

Your local freecycle!

Most people just think of it as a way to give away and get old junk. Think about it though, there are lots of people that have an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit that will go to waste if someone doesn't take it. It's just not something most think of posting for.

In our experience, if you post in a friendly, and not desperate sounding way, most people will gladly give any excess they have. Don't think of it as begging. That's what freecycle is for, to give away something you don't need.

We have been offered free figs, pears, and even chickens. When we go, we pick for whomever it is that offered them. It is usually an older person that just doesn't have a need for it all. It is a blessing for them also. We have made preserves, canned, and frozen the produce we have received. We also offer to share what we have made. So far, everyone has invited our family to come back every year since they love the kids.

In this day and age, we have to be creative and think outside of the box. Go ahead and try it, freecycle is easy to join. It's what works for me!

Please share any other tips you have for saving on produce. It can be so expensive!

How I feed my family of 8 on $300 a month - Part 4

You've put some thought into the value of budgeting and planning a menu, now what? It doesn't really help when you have a menu planned, but it's not affordable. The best savings come by not only planning a menu, but planning one around the sales, and also using any coupons you have to make the sales even better.

[Side note: You can find coupons in your Sunday paper, in the stores, online, or you can buy the really great ones off of ebay. I have some links in my sidebar that will show you lots of different coupons and deals for you to use.]

Every week, either in your Wednesday newspaper or in your mailbox, there are flyers that come out for the grocery stores. I suggest that you look at them. Either on the front or the back page of the ad are that store's really great deals. These great deals are what's called loss leaders, and they are used to draw you in to their store.

Most people will drive to that grocery store for the really great deal, but do not want to drive to more than one store to shop. So, while picking up that great deal, they will buy a few extra things. That's what the store is hoping for anyway.

Your goal is to go and get the loss leaders, if you need them, without buying any extra items. If you've planned your menu and then made a grocery list from that menu, then you shouldn't have to get anything else while there becasue you've already prepared.

If you'd like to make your family steak for one meal, you can do it, but you don't want to pay full price. Wait until the meat goes on sale, or is a manager's special. A manager's special is just meat that is reduced for a fast sale. Most stores mark down meats at certain times. Just ask someone in the meat department when that time is. When you do pick up a reduced meat, just get it in your freezer as soon as you get home and it'll still be good to eat for quite some time.

So, you've looked at the ads and see a great special for something you routinely buy, now what? Let's look at an example of what I am doing this week. In one of my local ads, they have boneless, skinless chicken breast on sale for $4.97 for 3 pounds. That equals about $1.66 lb. That is a good price here already, but I have a coupon for $.55 off that I will use on top of the sale. That will bring the price down to $1.43 lb. Remember how I told you to save a little out of your budget for sales? Well, I have a little put aside that I will go buy the chicken breasts with.

At another local store of mine they have Fresh Express salads 10/$10. I have $1.00 off coupons that make the salad free, so I will pick up a few on the last day of the sale so that I can use them in our next weeks menu.

So, now I have gotten a bag of chicken breasts and a few bags of salad for under $5.00. On next week's menu I plan to get at least 2 meals out of that bag of chicken and salad mix.

One of our weekend lunches will probably be chicken salad with some kind of fresh bread served on the side. For dinner, I will probably make what we call zesty chicken, using the rest of the chicken breasts, with a side salad and a fresh bread. This recipe also calls for italian, diced tomatoes which I already have on hand because I stocked up when I had a great coupon for them.

Just know that you don't have to buy every loss leader, every week, if you don't need it. The stores always run specials in cycles. Usually every 6-8 weeks. I could have gone crazy and bought up a ton of chicken breasts and salad mixes, but I know that one of the other stores will run a good special on these things soon. One, due to the usual 6-8 week cycle of specials, and two, due to competition. Since i'll still have more salad coupons, next time they're on sale i'll get them free again.

See how it works? I looked for the loss leaders the stores have, used coupons from my stash to make the deals even better, and then planned meals from what I got on sale. You can still get good deals without coupons, but they do help maximize your savings so use them when you have them. I could go on for quite some time on this topic, but I have no desire to write a book.

I know this can be a little difficult to wrap your head around, but it does get easier once you do it yourself rather than just reading it on paper. It's really a fun and challenging game to play.

Next week: Stocking up your pantry with the all those great deals you find

$70 menu for our family of 8...Wow, under budget by $5.00!

Well, this week I was able to come in a little under budget, but there is chicken breast on sale, so I will spend the rest I have on that. I have had people tell me that there is no way to feed a family good, healthy food on a low budget. Well I am here to say, that it can be done. It just takes a little time and creativity. Enjoy!

Breakfast:

Monday: Waffles and fruit
Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal
Wednesday: Eggs Florentine and fruit

Thursday: Muffins and Sausage
Friday: French Toast
Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat
Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:

Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked
Tuesday: Ham, mac & cheese, and a veggie
Wednesday: Chicken Salad
Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit
Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers
Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:

Monday: Carrots and ranch dressing

Tuesday: Fruit

Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey

Thursday: Celery and peanut butter or ranch dressing

Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese, which the kids call "mini pizzas", or peanut butter and honey

Dinner:

Monday:

Chicken Tetrazinni

Corn

Garlic bread

Tuesday:

Chicken Teriyaki

Fried rice

Eggrolls

Wednesday:

Taco and Burrito Bar
Refried beans

Thursday:

3 bean chili

Rice

Cornbread

Friday:

Pepperoni pizza

Breadsticks

Saturday: (Hubby's been asking for this for awhile)

BBQ burgers and hotdogs

Potato salad

Coleslaw

Garlic bread

Sunday:

Easter meal with extended family

Next week is kid's choice week. All the kids get to pick their own meal and help mom plan the grocery list for their meal. Then they each get to help cook their meal. It should be fun!

Our $75 menu this week...for my family of 8

Here we go again. I thought I would post another menu plan since it is so near and dear to my heart. If you're interested, I just wrote part 3 of my series on how I feed my family of 8 for $300 a month. The last topic just happens to be on menu planning. Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast:
Monday: Waffles and fruit

Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal

Wednesday: Pancakes and fruit

Thursday: Muffins and Sausage

Friday: French Toast

Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat

Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:
Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked

Tuesday: Ham, mac & cheese, and a veggie

Wednesday: Soup and crackers or 1/2 sandwich--->soup is usually leftover from night before

Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit

Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers

Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:
Monday: Carrots and ranch dressing
Tuesday: Fruit
Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey
Thursday: Celery and peanut butter or ranch dressing
Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese, which the kids call "mini pizzas", or peanut butter and honey

Dinner:
Monday:
Meat Lasagna
Green beans

Pumpkin rolls

Tuesday:
Baked Tilapia

Sauteed Squash

Hearty Herb Bread

Wednesday:
Spaghetti

Homemade Garlic Bread

Thursday:
Italian Sausage and peppers over penne

Salad

Peas

Friday:
Homemde BBQ Chicken pizza

Cheese Bread

Saturday:
Chicken Tetrazinni

Corn

Garlic Bread

Sunday:
Ribs

Mashed potatoes

Green beans

For more great menu ideas, check out Menu Planning Monday hosted by Organizing Junkie!

How I feed my family of 8 on $300 a month - Part 3

If you missed part 1 of the series you can read it here, and you can read part 2 here.

Now that everyone has sat down and set up a budget, it's time to make a menu. I will say this one more time. Cut back on the amount you are spending each month a bit at a time. In fact, practice doing a few weeks of menu planning first before cutting back on the amount of money you spend. This will allow for a learning curve. Most of us get so excited in the beginning and try to do too much. This leads to disappointment and failure. Once you learn how to do this you will be able to save your family lots of money.

So, what's the big deal about menu planning anyway? Well, menu planning saves you time and money! I am a busy woman, so I am always looking for a way to make my life easier and more efficient. Also, saving time and money are two of my favorite things.

When your plan your menu in advance there is no more standing in front of the refrigerator in a panic wondering what to cook for dinner at 5:00 in the afternoon. Only to realize that once you've decided on something, that you're out of a key ingredient, so now you have make a mad dash to the store. While you're there you see those cookies that look really good, and a nice cold coke sounds great. Before you know it, you've spent an extra $10.00.

Or you might be like me when when this happened. You know how it goes, you call your sweetie on the phone and say, "Hey honey, can you stop at so-and-so and pick up dinner?" Here at our house a run to McDonald's will cost us over $35.00. A typical dinner that I make at home will cost about a tenth of that. Like I said, planning your menu can save both time and money.

This is how menu planning goes at my house. First thing I will do is ask my husband if there is anything that he is hungry for that he wants me to cook. There is nothing worse than sitting down and planning everything out, only to have to have to change something because my husband really wanted to BBQ on Saturday when I had chicken tetrazinni planned instead.

So, after talking to him I will grab one of my older girls a few days before shopping day. We will go through and do a quick inventory of what's in the pantry. I don't know how many times I have bought something thinking I was low, only to get home and find out that I had way too many already. Or even worse, I would assume that I had enough only to find that I had to make that last minute mad dash to the store. So, now we do an inventory. If you really like to be extra organized, you can find master grocery lists online and print them out. They usually have a column for what you have on hand and a column for what you need.

To make things simple, you need to know what some of your favorite meals are. You can alternate those every week, every other week, or even monthly. For example, we usually will have a taco and burrito night one Wednesday and the next Wednesday we will have spaghetti and garlic bread. We also do pizza night on Friday nights at least every other week. The key is to simplify. Most families know what they like, and will tolerate some variety, but as a general rule like to stick to what they know. I am one who likes to try new things, so at least once a month I will try a new recipe. I have found some winners and some losers.

After I know what I have, my daughter and I sit down and write out our dinner menu. My weekly breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack menu stay the same for at least a month, sometimes longer. I make a dinner menu for 2 weeks at a time. To start off with though, I would only do one week at a time. This includes the main dish and any sides and desserts. Here at my house we like to include lots of different fresh breads. They are inexpensive, I make them with whole grains, and they fill us up!

Once we are satisfied with how our menu looks, which usually only takes about 30 minutes, we start on the shopping list. Knowing what I already have on hand makes it easy for me to write out what I need. I then write out everything I need to make all my meals and snacks. Like i've said before, when I shop, I only carry cash and stick strictly to my list. I know I only have $150 on me and I need to buy everything with that money to feed my family for two weeks.

Try planning a menu for a week and then shopping according to that menu. In the beginning it may be a little difficult. It is well worth the effort put into it, in the end. Once you get the hang of it though, it really makes things so much easier.


Next week: Shopping the weekly sales and further planning your menu from that!

Free Cereal Week for Me!

Sorry i'm late in getting this up, but it was a nice day outside, and we roasted hot dogs and smores out on the fire pit this evening!

Albertson's:

This was definately the week to get free cereal if you wanted it! Albertson's was having a special for Post cereals 5/$10 and then $2.00 taken off at the register. That brought it down to 5/$8. Not too bad of a deal, but I had $2.00 off coupons for each of the boxes of cereal, so it brought the total for 10 boxes to -$4.00. That's why I got my gallon of milk free! Which, as you can see, we've already started on. I also got the pack of beef on sale. So, 10 boxes of cereal, 1 gallon of milk and 4 pounds of beef cost me right at $8.00 OOP!

Walgreen's:

This was the week for Olay and Zest. I ended up getting 6 packs of Olay and 2 packs of Zest for $2.00 OOP, but I earned back $16.00 in Register Rewards. So, today I went out and got 1 tube of Colgate, 1 Listerine Smart Sinse, 1 bottle of Vitamin C, 2 Viactiv Calcium, and 2 boxes of butter for $0.00 OOP. I'll also earn back $15.50 in rebates on my Walgreen's gift card.

CVS:

This week was a light week for me at CVS since I was contracting too much for a few days. I had to be a lady of leisure and plant it on the couch. {gasp}

Anyways, my sweet hubby so graciously went and did this one for me. I figured i'd keep it simple since we had a run-in with a coupon nazi employee the time before. So, we just got 2 Mach 3 razors, 1 Venus Embrace, and 1 Fusion razor. I paid with $16.47 in ECB's and $.53 OOP and made back another $22.00 in ECB's. Not a bad run.

So, all of this would have cost over $110.00 for right at $10.00 OOP, but I made back more in rebates, ECB's, and I still have another register reward to spend! So, I guess you could say it's almost like it was free!

A Sample of our $75 Weekly Menu...for a Family of 8

Here we go again. I thought I would post another menu plan for you guys who are wondering how we feed our family for so little. This time I will add breakfast, lunch and snacks for you to see. If I can do it, anyone can! Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast:

Monday: Waffles and fruit
Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal
Wednesday: Pancakes and fruit
Thursday: Muffins and Sausage
Friday: French Toast
Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat
Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:

Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked
Tuesday: Ham, mac & cheese, and a veggie
Wednesday: Soup and crackers or 1/2 sandwich--->soup is usually leftover from night before
Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit
Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers
Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:

Monday: Carrots and ranch dressing

Tuesday: Fruit

Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey

Thursday: Celery and peanut butter or ranch dressing

Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese or peanut butter and honey

Dinner:

Monday:

Lasagna

Green beans

Pumpkin rolls

Tuesday:

Homemade Tomato soup

Homemade Italian cheese bread

Wednesday:

Taco and Burrito bar

Refried beans

Mexican rice

Thursday:

Chicken and stuffing

Corn

Friday:

Chili cheese enchiladas

Mexican rice----> leftover from Wednesday

Saturday:

Mock shepherd's pie

Steamed broccoli

Sunday:

Crockpot chicken

Rice pilaf

Salad

Pumpkin rolls

How I Feed my Family of 8 for $300 a month - Part 2

Last week I introduced you to some basic concepts that I follow to feed my family for just $300 a month. This week I will start showing you how to apply those concepts to your personal situation. If you missed part 1 of the series, you can read it here.

Step 1.  Make a budget! 
Even if you don't like budgets or they overwhelm you, just smile and get through it. Once it's in place you will be happy you did.

Here's why a budget is important, if you shop without setting up a budget, you will spend more! Setting up a budget is one of the most important things you can do when trying to save money on groceries. No matter how much you may be tempted to skip over this part, it is integral if you want to succeed.

I also advocate paying with cash. It has been proven that using a credit or debit card will cause you to spend more. I promise that you will make wiser shopping choices when you only have cash to spend on all your groceries. Enough on that for now.

Now, there is one thing that you need to do first before setting up your budget. You need to figure out how much you are currently spending every month on groceries. If you find out you are spending $1,000 a month, you wouldn't want to cut your budget to $400 the next month. The best advice I can give is to slowly decrease the amount you spend over a few months.

The first thing I did when trying to find ways to feed my family for less, was to save my receipts for a whole month. I wrote everything down I spent. Before I did this I thought I was spending around $600 a month. When I totaled it up, though, I found out I was spending closer to $750-$900 a month. It was eye opening to say the least.

Another important fact that you can find out by keeping track of those receipts, is exactly what you are buying. You will be able to see what you need, and what you've spent money on that maybe wasn't necessary. This will help you when you actually sit down to plan your budget. Once you know how much money is going out, sit down with your spouse and actually set a goal to decrease what you are currently spending .

The first goal my husband and I set after we saw what was going out, was $500 a month. After a few months I saw that I could spend $500 a month easily. I went back to my husband and we set another goal to drop it down to $400 a month. After another few months we decreased our spending, yet again, to $300 a month. Do you see how I did that? I didn't drop down to $300 from $750-$900 overnight. I gradually made the change, praying that God would show me how to save money along the way.

When setting your budget pray that God will show you how to save and give you the creativity to come up delicious, healthy meals while still saving money. You will be amazed at what you learn, and what you can do with the money you have.

Coming next: I'll start delving into basic menu planning

A taste of My menu

Menu Planning is near and dear to my heart. It is essential that I plan what we will be eating if I am to stay on my budget. My goal is to still eat a well balanced diet, while saving money. Menu planning helps me do that. It also saves me time, for those of you who think that it might take too much time to do. Time is the one thing I covet the most, being a busy mother of six children.

With that being said, here is a taste of what a typical weekly menu looks like in our house. If you are reading my new series on How I feed my family of 8 for $300 a month, menu planning is one thing I will be covering. So stay tuned!

Monday:
Cheesy chicken vermicelli
Sauteed squash
Fresh herb bread

Tuesday:
3 bean chili
Cornbread

Wednesday:
Spaghetti
Homemade garlic bread

Thursday:
Homemade chicken pot pie
Salad

Friday:
Homemade pizza--->the kids love to make these!
Homemade breadsticks

Saturday:
Mini meatloaf patties
Braised radishes
Cheesy cauliflower casserole

Sunday:
Baked chicken
Potatoes baked in foil, topped with butter, onions, and bell peppers
Salad

How I feed my family of 8 on $300 a month - Part 1

Since I have recently lowered my monthly grocery budget to just $300 a month, there has been alot of buzz. People want to know how in the world I do it. They want to know if it takes alot of time and effort? Do they have to feed their family processed, boxed food with little to no nutritional value? And lastly, how can they do the same thing for their family?

On the contrary, my current system takes less time and effort than my old way of doing things. My family eats more nutritious meals, no boxed meals here! And yes, you can do the same thing for your family too!

It does take a little time and effort in the beginning. You have to be willing to learn a new way of doing things. We live in a world where people expect to see immediate results without putting in much effort. I can tell you that although I had to put in a little time to learn how to save money, I am now seeing the fruit of my labor.

You do have an advantage over me though. I didn't have anyone show me all the secrets. I have since found amazing websites with lots of great advice, like Money Saving Mom, but in the beginning I had to figure it all out on my own.

Over the next few weeks, I will show you how I feed my family for only $300 a month. I will show you how you too can feed your family well, while still saving money. I will show you how to budget. How to plan a menu and make a grocery list from your menu. How to shop the weekly sales and further plan your menu from that. How to stock up your pantry with all the great deals you find. Lastly, how to get free, or even get paid to buy toiletries and medicines at the drugstores.

Coming Next: I will be talking about how to set up a reasonable budget.