Keeper of the Home: Frugality

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Frugality

November 25, 2008: You know it might be time to turn on the heat when...
Comments: 12 | Categories: A bit of this, a bit of that , Frugality

...you find this at nap time!I remembered a comment from someone a little while back when I was looking for help in dealing with a cold house. They suggested wearing nightcaps to bed. I figured winter hats would work, so I tried it the other night and the kids didn't...

November 24, 2008: Couponing- Was it really worth it?
Comments: 8 | Categories: Frugality

I would say the jury is still out on the benefits of couponing within a whole foods diet. Here's how my savings went on Saturday:QFC:Seventh Generation Dish Soap- $3.89 (with advantage card)$1.00 off coupon hereTotal- $2.89Darigold 8 oz Sour Cream- $1.59$0.40 off coupon (in-store dispenser)Total- $1.19Total before coupons- $5.97Total after...

November 19, 2008: An Experiment in Couponing
Comments: 28 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

We're all after ways to lower our grocery budget, right? Well, I decided to go back and make another attempt at something that I've previously deemed as not worth it. I've been asked before whether or not I coupon, and the answer has always been no. My primary reasons for...

November 14, 2008: Excellent (and affordable) home education resources for Kindergarten
Comments: 17 | Categories: Frugality , Home Educating

I just love it when I find affordable resources that really work for both Abbie (my almost 4 year old) and I, and these past couple of weeks I have loved what we've been using, so I though I would share them with you.Though Abbie is not quite 4 (her...

October 27, 2008: One chilly Monday morning
Comments: 32 | Categories: A bit of this, a bit of that , Frugality

I'm attempting to type this post with half-frozen fingers, and on a very few minutes of poor internet connection (brought to me by some mobile wireless device my husband has lent me for 10 minutes until he leaves for work). Our internet is down, once again, and so I don't...

October 3, 2008: A very full freezer, indeed
Comments: 8 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship , In the kitchen

When I came home from my favorite natural meat store earlier this week, I was rather surprised to discover this as I struggled to put away the items I had bought: It's nearly full!I know that I've been working hard to fill it all summer (mostly with fruit and some...

October 2, 2008: Three cheers for my produce market!
Comments: 17 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living , Nutrition

If you don't already think that I'm strange, you may very well think so now: I just love shopping for produce! I actually get excited about getting to go and do it!Not just anywhere, though. I love shopping for produce at my local market (2 EE's, for those who live...

September 23, 2008: How not to buy organic
Comments: 9 | Categories: Frugality , Nutrition

I wish I had my camera. It was a fantastic photo opportunity, although I'm not so sure that the lady in line in front of me at the grocery store would have been so keen on the idea. Tonight I saw firsthand a perfect example of how not to buy...

August 23, 2008: Frugal Family Vacations!
Comments: 2 | Categories: Family life , Frugality , Our family

But if you want to read it, you'll have to hop on over to The Motherload blog at MomAdvice! It's my first guest post for the lovely Amy, and I'm so excited to see if up there! I wrote a lot of the tips and tricks that I've been discovering...

August 14, 2008: Extreme Frugality: Attitude
Comments: 7 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship , Homemaking

If you haven't been reading her recent series on Extreme Frugality, I'd recommend you make a beeline over to Days to Come. Jeana has been taking a good, hard look at our concepts of frugality, our priorities, how far we're willing to take it, and what it looks like in...

August 4, 2008: "Greening" your kitchen (the frugal way!)
Comments: 10 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Good stewardship , In the kitchen

I've been anticipating this post from fellow blogger Michele, of Frugal Granola, on ways to eliminate disposables with simple and homemade options. I appreciate her perspective on simple living (check out her series), and I think that her resourcefulness is a wonderful example. Read on for some of her great...

July 24, 2008: Getting homestay students
Comments: 6 | Categories: Frugality , Making money

How do you go about hosting students? I'd love to hear more about this or get a website. Not only would our kids learn a lot but we would too. God Bless, Katie Earlier this week, I mentioned that we said farewell to our two Taiwanese homestay students, and are...

July 17, 2008: Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival- Sides, Salads and Desserts!
Comments: 6 | Categories: Frugality , Recipes

Welcome to the second edition of the Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival (if you missed the first week of main dishes at The Nourishing Gourmet, catch it here)! This week I am honored to host the carnival, where we will focus on frugal yet nourishing salads, side dishes and desserts- yummy!...

July 17, 2008: Nourishing Frugal Food coming up...
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality , Recipes

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the second half of the Nourishing Frugal Food carnival! Last week we shared main dishes and there was a great response- head on over to The Nourishing Gourmet to check it out! This week the focus is on salads, side dishes and desserts,...

July 10, 2008: Nourishing Frugal Food- Main Dishes
Comments: 3 | Categories: Frugality , Recipes

For my main dish contribution to the carnival, I have the yummiest Indonesian Rice Dish to share! Unfortunately, my recipe card has vanished, so I will have to give it from memory and hope that it tastes as good as the original, but I think I remember it pretty well,...

July 8, 2008: More nutrition, less money!
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality , Nutrition

If you've been wondering lately how you can squeeze greater nutritional content into your foods, without spending more money, then this excellent post is just for you! As somewhat of an introduction to the Nourishing Frugal Food carnival starting this Friday, Kimi has given a great list of 12 tips...

July 7, 2008: Free Sample- Mineral Makeup Kit!
Comments: 11 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

For any of you who have been considering switching over your conventional makeup to a healthier alternative (conventional makeup is just chock-full of toxic chemicals, which absorb right into your skin), here is something for you!I was inspired by Lindsay's recent post on the mineral makeup she uses in her...

July 3, 2008: Gas prices too high? Try water!
Comments: 7 | Categories: Current events , Frugality , Going green

I don't know what you're paying for gas right now, but yesterday I saw gas at a whopping $1.52 a litre! (For the Americans, that's $6.02 a gallon. Read it and weep.)Which brings me to a fascinating thing that my husband and I learned about last night. Did you know...

June 28, 2008: Oh garage sales, how I love thee
Comments: 7 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship

Would you rather buy these for $16.50, plus tax and shipping... ...or all of this, for $15.50 total? In a couple hours of garage saling this morning, I purchased 6 pairs of pants (khaki, cord and jeans), 2 knit sweaters, 2 knit winter hats, 1 sweater vest, 6 warm sleepers,...

June 27, 2008: The Value of a Chicken
Comments: 10 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

When you're on a tight grocery budget, just how far can you stretch one little chicken? I decided to track exactly what I did with a my last free-range chicken, because I wanted to know the ultimate value derived from it. I started with a box of Whole Chicken Fryers,...

June 25, 2008: Nourishing Frugal Food!
Comments: 2 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

Inspired by the recent rise in grocery costs, and our ever-present desire to cook whole, nourishing food for our families (and encourage you to do the same!), I will be collaborating with Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet to bring you a carnival that we are really excited about!Actually, it was...

June 19, 2008: Grow, little garden, grow!
Comments: 12 | Categories: Frugality , Gardening

Did you know that you have some incredible garden fertilizers, right in your very own kitchen? As I am trying to keep my garden costs low, I have been so blessed this year to discover a few very simple, yet very effective ways to boost my garden! It all started...

June 12, 2008: Frugality with Food, Revisited- Part 2
Comments: 7 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

Here is my continued list of strategies for keeping my grocery costs low (while keeping healthy foods a priority), in the midst of the rising grocery costs:(If you missed the first post, which also explains why I'm going through all of these ideas, you can find it here.)9) Shopping with...

June 6, 2008: Frugality with Food, Revisited- Part 1
Comments: 9 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

We're all feeling it. The grocery budget crunch. The shifting economy. The struggle to keep food costs reasonable. It seems that each time I go to the grocery store these days, yet another item that I regularly buy has risen in price. Each time I place my order with my...

June 3, 2008: Baby Steps: Cooking Dry Beans
Comments: 12 | Categories: Baby Steps , Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

First of all, if you're new to the Baby Steps series, you can find out what it's all about here (and welcome!).Secondly, if you didn't catch it yesterday, make sure you check out the "Say No to Kraft Dinner" recipe carnival. The purpose of this carnival was to help you...

May 30, 2008: Now this is something that I have definitely never thought of using cloth for!
Comments: 12 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Natural living

I stumbled upon this creative thrifty odd interesting idea today, and thought I would pass it on to you all! Have any of you ever heard of this idea of Family Cloth? Have you tried it? (If you have, wow, you are a brave soul, you have my most sincere...

May 30, 2008: 14 ways I have (and haven't ) been frugal enough lately
Comments: 4 | Categories: Frugality

So, I'm feeling uninspired and perhaps just a little bit cheeky this morning as I sit at the computer, thinking of what to post about. I am usually just full of various post ideas, so many that they never all get used, but today is a big ol' exception.In honor...

May 29, 2008: Who knew going cheap and minimalist could be so good?
Comments: 9 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

So, in the past month I've ditched shampoo, starting using the Oil Cleansing Method for my face, and started making my own toothpaste. Any one curious to know how it's all going? Actually, I don't think that I mentioned I was doing the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). I discovered it...

May 16, 2008: The Makings of a Frugal Garden
Comments: 16 | Categories: Frugality , Gardening

Since it's on my mind right now and it's definitely that season (or at least, it's getting to be for those in colder places), I thought I would share some of the ways that I have put my garden together quite cheaply! I didn't have much of a budget for...

May 13, 2008: Best deals on Klean Kanteen?
Comments: 8 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

A quick question for you all (because I know you're such a resourceful bunch!)... My SIL and I have decided to bite the bullet and start buying some Klean Kanteen bottles that I've been mentioning, as we've been wanting to for quite some time, but the cost is just somewhat...

April 30, 2008: Going no- ’poo?
Comments: 21 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Natural living

Nope, it's not a post about diapering! I stumbled upon a brilliant suggestion through Clothesline Alley last week that I sure hope it going to work for me, and just had to pass it on to you. Here it is: Stop using shampoo and conditioner. What? you say. Why on...

April 25, 2008: Frugal Cooking Carnival!
Comments: 12 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

At long last, the greatly anticipated Frugal Cooking Carnival is here! My challenge in doing this was two-fold--1) Trying to figure out how we could eat more frugally than we usually do (without sacrificing nutrition- it's only worth it to me to be frugal if I can keep nutrition a...

April 22, 2008: Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
Comments: 9 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality , In the kitchen

Here's a comment from my recent post on rising grocery costs that I wanted to respond to: Do you have that low of a grocery budget because you have to or because you want to (ie: pay off your mortgage faster?) Because sometimes I think we spend so much time...

April 18, 2008: Cost-per-serving for dinner menus
Comments: 7 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

As promised, I've worked this week on some more breakdowns of the cost-per-serving for meals, particularly dinner dishes. If you missed last week, I broke down different breakfast dishes into the cost-per-serving, in order to compare them. This all stemmed from my original post about needing to find a way...

April 10, 2008: Breaking down meals into price-per-serving
Comments: 22 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality , In the kitchen

Tedious as it may sound, this is what I've been working on in my "spare" time this past week (I use that term extremely loosely). As I mentioned last week in my post about working with rising grocery costs, I thought that it would be useful to start to take...

April 4, 2008: Rising to the challenge of higher grocery costs
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

Am I the only one who has felt an increasing difficulty in making the grocery budget stretch to keep our family well fed? It feels that each time I visit the grocery store these days, yet another item on my list has gone up in price, and I'm struggling to...

March 28, 2008: Eating like a big boy
Comments: 9 | Categories: Babies , Frugality , Our family

Someone asked recently where my son was at with eating and what types of foods we were feeding him at this point (just turned 10 months) and Crystal asked what works for others in feeding babies nutritiously and frugally. Here's what our big/little guy (he's growing up so much, but...

March 25, 2008: Simply sprouted grains
Comments: 11 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

There are so many different kinds of gadgets out there for sprouting: special sprouting jars and mesh lids and home sprouting devices... I've been sprouting grains and legumes for a couple of years now and I have never purchased a single piece of special equipment in order to do it...

March 20, 2008: Millions of oranges, oranges for free
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Recipes

For the past two days, I've had a song stuck in my head... Movin' to the country, I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches (oranges)Peaches come from a can they were put there by a manIn a factory downtownIf I had my little way I'd eat peaches everyday What can...

March 19, 2008: Why I resemble a truck driver and a few good deals...
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality

For the past couple of years, my husband and I have rarely paid for more than one entree when we go out to eat, and it's not just because we eat like birds (I know for a fact that as a nursing mother I am more likely to resemble a...

March 7, 2008: Buying used- Which items are worth it?
Comments: 14 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship

She had been such a good little vacuum for us. She was a purple, upright Dirt Devil, the first decent vacuum I ever owned. We bought her for $16 on a half price day at Bargain World. She even came with 2 packs of extra bags. I thought it was...

March 5, 2008: While we're on the topic of cloth diapers...
Comments: 3 | Categories: Babies , Frugality , Natural living

Here's a site for you to check out: The Used Diaper Company During my recent diaper cover research, I ran across this site that I thought I would pass on to you. When I was originally planning to buy new covers, I spent quite a bit of time looking on...

February 21, 2008: Cutting down on waste
Comments: 19 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Good stewardship

Ever since Christmas this year, and especially since watching the video "The Story of Stuff" (I highly recommend watching this short but very thought-provoking video), the amount of waste that our small family of four puts out has been bothering me. Now, since we already eat primarily from whole foods,...

February 15, 2008: "Whatever Ya Got" cooking (a frugal way to use what's in your fridge)
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

When we were engaged, my sweet husband bought me a book called The New Bride Guide by Ellie Kay (she's the Coupon Queen- you may have heard of her book Half-Price Living: Secrets to Living Well on One Income). One of the best things that I got from the book...

February 7, 2008: Sometimes it pays to pay someone else
Comments: 11 | Categories: A bit of this, a bit of that , Frugality

I feel like I'm going just a little bit crazy. These last couple of weeks I have been working on my blog redesign, and I have been learning (through trial and much, much error) about html and installing wordpress.org and ftp connections and config.sample.php files and mySQLdatabases and customizing headers...

January 31, 2008: Homemade soup broth- An essential element in any healthy, frugal kitchen
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

Ever wonder why fokelore has always included chicken soup as a remedy for the common cold? And why your Grandma's tastes just so good (so much better than any canned or dry variety ever could)? The secret is in the broth. Rich, delicious, nourishing homemade soup stock. Why is chicken...

January 28, 2008: Cloth or disposable- It applies to more than just diapers (this is a "girls only" topic)
Comments: 24 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Living healthy

I came across an interesting topic this morning that I thought I'd share with you, and I'd love to hear your feedback on this one! It all started while visiting a new blog, and stumbling upon this post. The subject of menstrual pads is not one that is commonly discussed...

January 23, 2008: From the wedding to wise stewardship- a frugality story continued
Comments: 3 | Categories: Frugality

As many of you guessed, this story has a happy ending. Allow me to continue it... It was a humbling thing, to be engaged to a man who had no debt and actually saved up cash to make major purchases, while she was sitting nearly $30,000 in debt. And as...

January 17, 2008: The Dirty Dozen- Making the most of the money you spend on organics
Comments: 10 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

Have you ever wondered whether some fruits or vegetables are more important to buy organic than others? The simple answer is yes! Certain crops can be more difficult to grow, and when not using organic and natural methods, require the use of many more pesticides and sprays than other crops....

January 16, 2008: What happens when I find organic milk on clearance …
Comments: 6 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

I spend all day in the kitchen! Actually, most of last night, too. Yesterday, I went out to do my grocery shopping and I had less grocery money than usual for this next 2 1/2 week period (partly due to mismanagement on my part- our budget system has changed slightly,...