Frugal Fridays - Stay-cation

We definitely could not afford to go away for the entire two weeks that Hubby had R&R (plus it is sometimes nice to relax at home), so we planned a stay-cation for the second part of his leave.  We found cheap (or free!) things to do around town.  We did treat ourselves to some extra meals out, but were also able to save money by cooking some meals at home.  Here are a couple of the highlights:

PEABODY PARK:

This is a very nice (and free) park in downtown Little Rock with water fountains for the children to play in and a very intricate playground with tunnels, slides, boulders, and ladders.



LITTLE ROCK ZOO:

We buy and annual pass each year and for us it has definitely been worth it!  Hubby was away when the zoo opened the new penguin exhibit, so this was his first time seeing them.  They are always fun to watch!

"M" is roaring like a lion.

Frugal Fridays - Cut your Electric Bill

I just got our electric bill for last month and we were able to shave $60 off of it despite the constant 100 degree temperatures!  Here is how we did it:

1.  Take advantage of the long summer, sunny days.  Use your blinds/curtains!

I now rarely use lights.  In fact, days can go by before I turn on a light.  The girls wake up with the sun and are asleep before it gets too dark out.  When it gets so dark that I cannot see, I take the hint and go to bed!  It did take me a little bit of retraining to walk over and open the blinds when I walk into a room rather than to reach for the light switch (and to remember to close the blinds when I leave a room to keep the sun from heating up the room), but why pay for light when the sun gives us plenty of it on most days.

2. Hang your laundry to dry.

This is quite possibly my favorite change, for I just love when I can be productive while the girls play.  "M" will either help me, splash in her pool, or run through the sprinkler and "Boo" will happily swing while I work.  Everyone's happy!

3.  Turn the thermostat up.

We used to keep the house at 78 degrees during the day, and 76 degrees at night.  Well we got a letter from our eletric company with a statistic (which I forget what it is now) about how much money you save per degree you turn up your thermostat.  So I changed to to 79 degrees during the day and 77 at night.  Then it sort of turned into a game to see how high I could set it and how much money we could save.  Now we set it to 82 degrees at the lowest during the day (sometime as high as 85) and 78 at night.  It is amazing how your body adapts and now 84 degrees is often a comfortable temperature (unless I am doing heavy housework or running around with the kids and then I'll lower it to 82).  I have found that the girls do not sleep as well at night if it is warmer than 78 degrees at night.

4.  Get outside!

Amazing things happen just by going outside.  For starters, you are not running electronics like the TV or computer.  Second, your body adjusts to much warmer temperature so when you come inside, 85 degrees feels cold!  Plus, it is healthy to get outdoors, soak up some Vitamin D, relax, run around, and have fun!

Frugal Fridays - Sewing

Since my friend over at Just a Little Something Betsy wanted to know what fun projects we've been up to, I figured it was a good time to do a Frugal Friday on sewing.  Sewing is a wonderful skill to learn to save you money!  I sew gifts, clothing, and decorations for the home.  If you are new to sewing or would like to learn I highly recommend Homestead Blessings: the Art of Sewing

A lot of the material that I have has been given to me for free :o)  Very thankful for that blessing!  I am also constantly checking thrift stores and garage sales for good deals on material.  Sometimes you need to be creative about how you acquire material (like cutting up a stained shirt or tablecloth and using the good portion). 

Blogs are an excellent source for ideas and patterns.  You can also often find patterns at thrift stores, and the Walmart by us has some very inexpensive patterns.  To get the most out of the patterns, I usually trace them first onto a scrap piece of material (this is where you can use the stained portions of the tablecloth, shirt, etc.).  These hold up longer than the thin, flimsy paper patterns often come on.

Here are some things I have been working on the past two weeks:

PILLOW AND 2 PILLOWCASES

Super fast and easy to make!  Made this as a gift for a 3 year old boy who was getting a big boy bed.

EASY SUMMER DRESSES

I love the New Look pattern #6576.  It is very easy and quick to make and perfect for summer!  Add a turtleneck and stockings and you can make it work in the winter too.  See the post on "Boo's" first birthday for another one of these dresses that I made.

FABRIC BOOKS

These are also very quick to sew and make nice baby shower or 1st birthday gifts.  You buy the fabric with the pages already printed on them and you follow the easy instructions.  Our children seem to be obsessed with putting books into their mouths, so these are great started books that are hard to destroy.

QUILTED ALPHABET

I hate to waste fabric so I am always looking for things to make with scraps.  A while ago I made the numbers 0-9, so now I am working on the alphabet.  There is a pattern and tutorial available on Oh So Happy Together.  As I have scraps left over from other projects I cut out a letter.  I am using matching material for each upper and lowercase letter.

Have any patterns/projects you'd like to share?  Leave a comment below.  I'm always looking for ideas!  And check back on Mondays for my Make-It-Monday posts for more projects.



Frugal Friday - Dehydrated Kale Crisps

I love making quick, cheap, healthy snacks for our family.  We picked an abundance of kale from our garden so I thought we would make some Kale Crisps.  I thought "M" would love helping me with this, but as you can see from the pictures below she did not at all like the texture. 

DEHYDRATED KALE CRISPS

You'll need:

*2 bunches of kale - cut or ripped into 2 inch chunks

*1/4 cup olive oil

*juice from 1/2 lemon

*1 tsp. sea salt

*honey to taste

Directions:

Mix kale, olive oil, slat, and lemon in bowl.  Massage for about 3 minutes.  You'll start with a big bowlful of kale and end up with just a handful or two by the end of it.

Add honey and massage for 3 more minutes

Dehydrate ~8 hours depending on your method (we use a Nesco Food Dehydrator)

Enjoy!

Frugal Fridays - Study what worked in the past

Food prices, along with everything else, are skyrocketing.  I just saw that it costs almost $6.50 for four sticks of organic butter at the food store!  I can't help but think there's got to be a better way, especially in light of all I have read in Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind.  The more I learn about the past and frugal living though, the more I realize how ignorant and how little I know!  So this week I took the girls on a field trip to Fosterfields Living Farm in Morris, NJ where they churned up some real organic butter that cost nothing but a little bit of work! 

Fosterfields Living Historical Farm is a 200-acre National Register Historic Site demonstrating farm life as it was 100 years ago.  It is complete with farm animals, crops, period furnishings, and machinery from the turn of the 20th century.  The girls had a blast and we had a refreshing insight into the way things used to be.

churning some cream into butter

wood stove

ice box

laundry time!

 

I follow the blog "Raising Homemakers" and really enjoyed her post this week on Simple Homemaking - A Return to My Roots.  In it she talks about the book The American Frugal Housewife which I discovered you can get for free on your Kindle (and I did!).  I started reading it last night and it is full of tips and encouragement. 

I also highly recommend Agrarian Nation for a look at the old agricultural writings written between 1825 and 1900.

Also, jump on over to the Vintage Healthy Home Link-Up for some more encouragement!

Frugal Fridays - Local Library

Don't judge a book (or a library!) by it's cover...

Lesson learned!

We've lived here for over three years, and it was not until recently (within the last few months) that I visited our local library.  We do not live in the best of towns and I carried that image over to our public services.  I actually went to our library only to get a passport library card so I could check out books from the next town over (which is known for it's awesome school districts, and therefore in my mind would have much better library services).  Oh how wrong I was!  I was shocked to find out that the story time at the library is put on by a Montessori teacher, and the program is phenominal!  The children love it (mommy does too!).  They also offer lots of other wonderful programs, like knitting and crafting classes, family movie nights, and even host a clothing swap once a month.  I've learned that a library is more about the heart of the poeple that live there rather than the town budget.  They may not have the largest selection of books on their shelves, but they are always willing to search, hunt, and even purchase books that you request.  And I was shocked to learn that they allow way more books out at a time than I ever imagined (or would need).  I presently have 38 books checked out :o)  "M" loves to read, and I love to be able to feed that curiousity (for free!).  So I encourage you to check out your local library, get to know your librarians, and utilize their FREE services.

 "Boo" playing at the library after a story time.

Other ways to get free or discounted books:

1.  Purchase a Kindle Wireless Reading Device.  Okay, the device is not cheap!  But, there are tons of free books you can download and many more that are significantly cheaper than a hard copy.  You can also preview the first two chapters of the book before purchasing. 

2.  Search garage sales, thrift stores, consignment shops, etc.  We found one thrift store where all childrens books were between 25 to 50 cents!!!

3.  Share books and resources with friends.  If you are part of a homeschooling group, set up your own little library.

4.  You may find "libraries" in unlikely places!  Our chiropractor has a lending library that is filled with some wonderful books that he and others are willing to share.