Friday Freebie: Simon Mall Kidgits Program

Today I wanted to discuss the Simon Mall Kidgits program. If you have a Simon Mall, this is definitely a program to take advantage of. For a mere five dollars you receive a child's t-shirt, family-friendly & money-saving coupons from mall retailers, birthday club & gift redemption for kids, a mailed newsletter publication with games & educational elements, & other membership exclusives. Each mall offers something different (as do their retailers), but I will share with you what we receive each month for our five dollar membership.

Each month, we head to the customer service desk and pick up that month's worth of coupons. In our packet is a free Chickfila kid's meal & a 1/4 pound of jelly beans from the South Bend Chocolate Factory. We take these coupons and get our son's meal with them (he eats free) and my husband and I get something to eat. After we eat that, we go pick up his jelly beans (these get hidden for a treat the next day). We then head over to our mall play area and he plays his little heart out with the other kids. On our way out, we then head over to the DQ, located within our food court, and get him his fifty cent kiddy cone. He has the best time and eats for free once a month.

In our packet are additional discounts for other retailers. There is usually a five dollar off coupon for Stride Rite (which can be used for his back-to-school shoes), a free 8x10 for the Picture People (no sitting fee), buy one pretzel get one free coupon, and twenty percent off cookies at the little cookie place. Each month they change, but I can usually expect to see these coupons pretty regularly in my packet.

You can apply to be part of this program online or request an application at the Customer Service desk at your mall. If you would like to see what coupons are offered in your area, just visit this link and it will bring up the month's current offer.

Many thanks go to my girlfriends who finally convinced me that it really was worth five dollars a year!

If you are interested in more freebies, please visit the following links for even more great offers!

Free Samples
Free Money
Starbucks Coffee
Baby Freebies
Free Baby Goodies

Frugal Momma's Test Kitchen: Magic Milkshakes & Slushies

This week we decided to try out a few new recipes because we have added a new appliance to our kitchen- the smoothie maker! I have wanted one of these for a long time, but $40 seemed like a lot of money for something that I didn't think I would use all that often. My girlfriend was selling one in her garage sale though and I decided I wouldn't mind spending FOUR dollars to try it out. I can tell you that we have already gotten our four dollars out of it (and probably would get forty dollars out of it, if that were the case) and made some incredibly yummy summer treats.

The recipes that I wanted to review this week were from one of my favorite websites- Hillbilly Housewife. This website is full of great information and I particularly enjoy her budget-friendly recipes & menu plans. If you haven't had a chance to swing by her site, I highly recommend it. Don't be fooled by the title- there is so much that you can learn from this woman.

We tried two of her recipes and they have already made numerous repeat performances at our house. The first was the incredibly yummy, Magic Milkshakes. What makes them magic? Well, you don't have to dump a carton (or two) of ice cream in the blender to make them. In fact, it involves no ice cream at all! Not using the ice cream and only using powdered milk, makes this the most budget-friendly yummy milkshake you will ever drink. If you don't believe me, look at my son and his magic milkshake mustache! I call them magic in our house though because they have been magically disappearing. It is the closest thing to a Wendy's Frosty that I could ever make and one batch of these will give you four shakes.

The other recipe that we tried were for her Slushies recipe. These are seriously just as good as any you will buy in a store or restaurant. Don't be fooled by the simple ingredients- they make amazing slushies. We were drinking these often enough that I decided to purchase the sugar-free versions of fruit drink mix so that we weren't consuming so much sugar before bed time. She estimated that these were about six cents per serving, but it is a treat that is worth so much more than that! I let my son pick his favorite color for the evening and it provides good motivation for him to pick up his toys before he goes to bed. Now that is a drink that keeps on giving!

I hope you can enjoy these sweet summer treats and feel free to comment what you thought about them. If you have a favorite summer dessert or snack that you would like to share- feel free to include your recipe in the comments section.

Thank you to Hillbilly Housewife for providing me with some (much needed) inspiration in the snack department! Please visit her website for more great recipes and ideas.

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Solution for Cheap Trash Bags

Good morning and welcome to this edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday. Please be sure to visit Shannon's blog to view all of the entries from all of the wonderful ladies who make this day so much fun!

I have had this Works-For-Me-Wednesday solution in my back pocket for a long time now. It was one of those things that I wanted to throw out there when I had absolutely no idea what to do...And that day has definitely come!

We are very tight on our grocery budget and I hate to waste money on any paper products because it takes away from our actual food budget. When I do buy paper products, I tend to buy the cheapest that you can find (with the exception of the toilet paper- ouch!).

I have found the best cheap trash bags to be the ones from Aldi. I have purchased them all over, but these seem to hold up the best under pressure. The bad thing about these bags is that they don't really have any handles and so the bag would slip, when my husband was getting the trash out to take to the curb, and we would end up with a really nasty mess.

My solution for this- old pantyhose. Simply cut the top elastic off of any old pair of torn pantyhose and wrap it around your trash bag to hug it into place. I have been using the same elastic for three years now and it is still going strong. It is the perfect solution (not to mention practically free!) and your husband will definitely thank you for this idea!

If you are new to my blog, please browse around! I am also including links to all of the past WFMW entries that I have done (in case you missed it!)

Programming Your Cell Phone
Free Up Pantry Space: Make a Snack
Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively
Using the Coffee Maker With Ease
Making Your Spice Rack Usable
Maximizing Space

Festivals & Carnivals

The carnivals and festivals are up & posted for the week- thank you to all the hosts who have included us!

Free Money Finance is hosting this week's Festival of Frugality. Included within the submissions is our Friday Freebie: Free Samples.

Mighty Bargain Hunter is the host for the Carnival of Personal Finance (#54). Included within these submissions is our Frugal Momma's Test Kitchen: Starbucks Banana Pound Cake.

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction (#41). Our submission of Online Grocery Shopping was included within this.

Finally, the Carnival of Family Life is now traveling and is over at Snapshot. Our Friday Freebie: Free Samples was also located there.

Frugal Momma's top picks for good reads this week:

How Far Do You Go With Cashback? is a great entry on how people have creatively taken advantage of the cashback on their credit cards. The real question is how far is too far AND if one is disciplined enough to actually pay their balance so they get rewards (and not fees!)

The End of My Frugal Rope is a great read for people who are disciplined in the fine art of frugality. What do you do when you are already doing all you can to save your family money? How do you tap into your creativity when you think you know it all?

Free Summer Activities for Your Kids is a great read for parents. I know I am always looking for free stuff to do with my children and supermom points out some great ways to keep them busy!

There is also a great entry on Common Mistakes in Becoming Debt Free that is worth taking a look at. The one I struggle with...Being Pound Wise & Pound Foolish.

Thanks again to all of our hosts! Looking forward to sharing more next week!

Sam's Club Click 'N Pull Review

Today I had to pick up an order from Sam's Club so I decided to give their Click 'N Pull option a try. I had talked a little bit about this in last week's blog entry on online shopping, but had not gotten a chance yet to give it a shot at our local Sam's Club. Basically, you can do all of your ordering online (place your order by 5 PM) and then you come and pick the order up the next day.

I placed an order for some frozen goods, produce, and water. I did not have to enter my credit card online or anything like that, just placed the order and got an email confirmation that they received it. The following day I received an email that my order had been processed and I could pick it up within the next seventy-two hours. That sounded good to me because I was hoping that I wouldn't have to rush over there with the two kids.

When my husband got home, I headed over to the store and went to the Customer Service Desk to pick up my order. I gave my name and they scanned a bar code on my order, which brought all of my items up in one scan and provided my total. While I wrote my check, they called someone to get my items from the freezer and cooler. By the time I finished my check, my order was ready to go and I was in and out of there in a matter of ten minutes. That HAS to be a record for me.

Since I am always looking for ways to save money, I found this a true benefit to my wallet in a few different ways.

1. I can comparison shop online and find out if the biggest bag of chicken really is the best deal (which it was not!). Shopping online gave me the time I needed to browse through all of their selections and price everything. Trying to figure out prices, when many times it offers price per pallet, was much easier when I was doing this from home.

2. By having my order ready for me, I did not have to walk around the store and feel overwhelmed. I have a really hard time shopping in places when they offer too much. I get that sick feeling in my stomach, get overwhelmed, start throwing things in my cart, then decide to put things back, then grab them again, etc.. I don't know if this is just me or if other people go through this- Sam's Club is one of those places for me.

3. I avoided all of the unnecessary shopping that seems to sidetrack me when I am shopping there. No looking at books, getting clothes, buying everything from the people offering samples (Do they really need to get the sweetest ladies in the world handing those out because it makes it hard for me to refuse???) I got exactly what I needed and was home to spend an evening with my family. This makes my wallet happier and our family happier.

I hope that you guys can take advantage of this service. There was no charge and it was so simple. I told the associate that I thought it was a wonderful service that they were offering and she said that it usually works out really well. The only thing that they have had trouble with is when people take things out of the carts that have items reserved in them.

Other than a small wait for the frozen/cooler foods, it was a great service for this tired momma!

Monday WAHM Spotlight: BeautiControl

Thanks to Megan Stonich for being part of our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.Thank you to Megan and her WAHM business, BeautiControl, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature!

Name: Megan Stonich

City/State: Pleasanton, California

Name of Company: BeautiControl

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

When you feel you have been transported from your home to an exclusive spa resort or a private beach, then know you have made your ESCAPE with BeautiControl products. With a BeautiControl Spa ESCAPE™, you can treat yourself and your friends to a complimentary hour of pampering and relaxation in the comfort of your own home! You'll feel completely revitalized from head to toe!

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

1. Always have at least 5 minutes of alone time a day for you. Some health experts say that 90% of disease is related to stress so if you have 5 minutes of alone time to de-stress and relax you will be able to better take care of your family & your health.

2. Every morning or the night before make a list of specific things that to be done each day, arrange them in priority order, and then do your best to get the important ones done as soon as possible. Train yourself to go down your "To Do List" without skipping over the difficult items. Reward yourself when you have completed your to-do list!

Friday Freebie: Free Samples

Today I am going to post a few free samples that you can take advantage of, for our Friday Freebie.

I love to get free stuff in the mail. In fact, I love to get anything in the mail except bills & junk mail. Free samples are one of my favorite things because they are the perfect size for guests who come to visit or they are the perfect size to take when you travel.

Here is this week's samples list:

A free limited edition Holly Hobbie art print from American Greetings. Use the coupon code HOLLY FRIENDS.

Walmart offers tons of free samples. These change often so bookmarking this page would be a good idea! Fibersure, Nivea, Jergens, & Dove free samples are currently posted.

Enfamil offers a free diaper bag, samples, a free sippy cup, and sixty dollars in formula checks for joining their Enfamil Family Club.

Can't get enough free formula? Parent's Choice Formula (made by Walmart) is offering a free sample of their new organic baby formula. This organic formula is twice the price of their regular formula so this is a great free sample! When I signed up for this one they said that you could also sign up for a free newsletter and coupons- can't beat that!

Earth's Best, another organic baby company, offers a free sample of their rice cereal, a feeding guide, & coupons that you can receive in the mail.

Traditional Medicinals offers free sample packs of their tea. Samples change throughout the year!

Bausch & Lomb has a free Wear & Care kit that you can receive for free. I requested this offer a couple of weeks ago and am still waiting on it, but it is definitely worth a try. Just click on the button under the Learn More category.

Make the Connection has a free bracelet that they are offering. Just by signing up, Merck will donate one dollar to Cancer Research & Prevention. You get two kits to make a bracelet (for you & a friend) for free.

Lysol is offering a free sample of sanitizing wipes. Just register to receive two free samples of citrus scented wipes.

Taster's Choice is offering fourteen single serve packets & two $2 coupons for free. Just complete their short survey and they will mail these off to you!

Want more freebies? Here are some links to past Friday Freebie Deals...

Free Money
Starbucks Coffee
Baby Freebies
Free Baby Goodies

Online Grocery Shopping Options

Amazon is now offering a Grocery section on their website. They currently are offering over ten thousand grocery items. These items are non-perishable and include a large selection of snacks, beverages, baking goods, and organic products. A $25 order will get you free shipping and their selection offers many items that are more difficult to find in a traditional grocery store (particularly in their organic foods department).


Peapod is another great option for purchasing your groceries online, but they don't offer this in our town. We used this service when I worked in an office and it was a great way to get what you needed (particularly in an office environment) without having to run to the supermarket. They offer ten dollars off of your first order by entering the discount code CJA2 in the coupon code field. A minimum of $75 must be spent.

Another timesaver, would be to take advantage of the wholesale clubs online ordering. This is perfect for the harried mother who has no time to shop! With Sam's Club, they offer the Click 'n' Pull. Place your order before five, they pull the items, you pick up the next day. This is great for comparison shopping (rather than standing in the lanes with your calculator & your screaming child) and saves you from running around the giant store. Other wholesale club stores may offer the same type of deal (they just aren't in our town!)

I would be interested in knowing if anyone has ever purchased their orders online and what they have thought about their experience? Please let me know in our comments section- this would be valuable information for all of our readers!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Programming Your Cell Phone

Good morning and welcome to this edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday. Please be sure to visit Shannon's blog to view all of the entries from all of the wonderful ladies who make this day so much fun. You really will get some of the best ideas for your family- trust me!

This morning I wanted to talk about programming numbers into your cell phone. This idea came to me after our power went out, I banged my knee three times trying to find the phone book, couldn't find a flashlight and poorly attempted to find the number using the lighting on the phone. I ended up calling 411 for information and (while rubbing my bruised knee) realized that we should have a flashlight WITH batteries and the number for the electric company should be programmed in the phone.

After talking with a girlfriend, we came up with this list of *must have* numbers for your phone:

ICE- Did you get this forward in your email box? I did! ICE stands for In Case of Emergency and this helps the people who are trying to help you when something bad happens. That way they don't end up calling your grandmother (who can't help) or your ex-boyfriend (who won't help). Be sure to program this one- it could save your life!

Electric Company- as explained above in great and ridiculous detail.

Auto Insurance Company- I would program this directly to the claims department so that you can contact them immediately after you have been in a car accident. This way that yahoo who hits you gets reported for talking on their phone (when they should be concentrating on driving) and will help get your claim processed more quickly and efficiently.

Towing Company- AAA or someone you could call to tow your car if it breaks down. This way you can avoid talking to your hubby to get this number when he is angry with you for doing something stupid like forgetting to fill up the gas tank.

Favorite Restaurants- Particularly ones that you can call ahead so you don't have to sit with two screaming kids who don't want to wait for food. Having this programmed for take-out is also really handy.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find this entry helpful.

Here are links to my past entries (if you are new to the site!):

Free Up Pantry Space: Make a Snack
Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively
Using the Coffee Maker With Ease
Making Your Spice Rack Usable
Maximizing Space

Festivals & Carnivals

Here are the latest links to the traveling shows....

The Carnival of Personal Finance #53, has returned home and is celebrating one year of great reads. The host requested an entry from everyone and a favorite from the past year. This equals doubly good reads and showcases the writing talents for all the bloggers. Happy Birthday! The entries were arranged by length and I was shocked to see that we only made the middle. I consider my blog entries to be short novels, but there were plenty of people who had me beat this week. The Quest to Find Cheap Baby Food was included and my favorite entry on Easy Ways to Save Your Family Money was also highlighted.

The Festival of Frugality #28 was also back home over at the Blueprint For Financial Prosperity. Our New Uses For That Old Phone Book was included.

The Carnival of Family Life #6 is up and our Quest to Find Cheap Baby Food was up over there too. Lots of great submissions can be found in this carnival. It is also being celebrated at home, but will now be traveling around so new sites are welcome to join in to host!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction #40 has been posted at Journey to Financial Freedom. Our Cheap High Speed Internet & Other Tall Tales (I need to think of some shorter titles, people!) has been included over there.

Frugal Momma's top picks for good reads this week:

Fifteen Ways to Leave Your....Money has a great tongue-in-cheek response to these lame lists that the financial experts offer to us as "tips" that we would have never thought of.

My favorite blogging momma (The Family CEO) writes on Gift Guilt. Do you feel guilty when you don't spend as much on a gift? My answer is no! Read my blog entries if you don't believe me!

Want to know how to actually make a cake from scratch? This blog entry includes recipes and reasons why you shouldn't go with the boxed cake mix. I still think Aldi brownie mix is better than anything I have ever attempted to make, but I am willing to budge on the cakes themselves.

Frugal Momma's Test Kitchen: Starbucks Banana Pound Cake

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I hope that everyone had an enjoyable Father’s Day and that you were able to spend time with the dads in your life. We spent the day with both of our dads and I spent a portion of the day doing some baking for a Father’s Day treat to go along with our gift.

This year, I bought the dads a pound of Starbucks coffee. Coffee is always a good no-brainer gift and I was able to get a pound of it for $6.99 at Target, which I thought was a pretty good deal. Now usually I pair this with a coffee mug, but I have noticed lately that both of our fathers’ coffee mug collections are getting a little bit much for them. I know that this is a gift that they get frequently, from one of us kids, and so I decided to not do that this year. Last year though, I used a coupon and hit a decorate-your-own pottery place and I made a mug for my dad. It is his absolute favorite mug and he uses it every day. He won’t let it go through the dishwasher and I always see it sitting by his coffee pot. Maybe one of these days, I will make another mug, but he seems to really like the one he has now. This is a good (and personal) alternative to the coffee mug gift.

With the coffee, I wanted to pair it with a sweet treat. The dads in my life are very health-conscious though and so I didn’t want to bring them a snack that they couldn’t eat. Trying to pick something healthy was a challenge, but I was up for one. Thankfully, I had just checked out a new book at the library called, “Fast Food Fix,” by Devin Alexander. In this cookbook were all these restaurant favorites, but she makes a copycat version of them with half the fat & calories. I decided to give her version of Starbuck’s Banana Pound Cake a try since I thought it would taste so good with the coffee. I did these pound cakes in my stoneware mini loaf pan (one of my all-time favorite purchases from Goodwill for five bucks!) and they turned out absolutely perfect. In the mini loaf pan, they looked done after about forty minutes. You will just want to check it a little bit more frequently if you are doing it in a smaller pan.

I really liked this recipe and thought that it was a nice treat with the coffee, but not that overly-stick-to-your-teeth sweet that leaves you with a tummy ache.

The book is full of some really great recipes and I am excited to try a few more out, given the success of the pound cakes. I hope you guys can give these a shot! It was a great way to use up some of my ripe bananas that are in my fruit basket. If you are looking for a stick-to-your-teeth treat, try my heavenly banana bread.

Starbucks: Banana Pound Cake

Ingredients: Butter flavored cooking spray, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, 1 cup sugar, 2 egg whites, 2/3 cup fat-free vanilla or banana yogurt, 2/3 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted the walnuts)

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350. Mist a 9x5x3" nonstick loaf pan with cooking spray. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the bananas, sugar, egg whites, and yogurt. Using a sturdy whisk or a spoon, mix until throughly blended. Add the flour mixture. Stir until no flour is visible. Stir in the nuts. Pour into the reserved pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool in the pan on a rack for ten minutes. Remove to the rack and cool completely. Cut into eight slices. Serve warm or room temperature. Wrap and refrigerate any leftovers for up to three days.

According to her book, this will shave off 57 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 10 grams of saturated fat- not too shabby!

Monday WAHM Spotlight: Tupperware

Melissa has been chosen as our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.

Thank you to Melissa and her WAHM business, Tupperware, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature!

Name: Melissa Wilder

City/State: Louisville KY

Name of Company: Tupperware

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:
Awesome Storage and Kitchen Products! Great For Small, kitchens, large kitchens, RV'S Keep organized and your food longer! Saves time and Money!

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

1. Find your niche and then find a company that fits that. If you like jewelry and are buying it all the time than maybe that is the company for you!

2. You will be successful if you love what you are doing. Hang in there if it gets slow- it will and you just have to persevere.

Saturday Sales

Saturday Sales are going to be a tad early because we will be out of town tomorrow. I wanted to make sure to get these up before we left. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I am hoping someone can take advantage of these great deals! I will try to post more on Sunday!

The Children's Place is currently running their Monster Sale. Everything has been drastically discounted. They are currently offering an additional fifteen percent off through June 18th. The coupon code to receive the additional discount is: BCMA16

Don't forget to sign up for Ebates too because that will give you an additional three percent back on your purchase at The Children's Place. If you haven't had a chance to read my blog entry on Ebates, this is a freebie worth looking into & signing up for. You receive five dollars just for starting your account.

Other sales happening right now:

Gap's Really Big Sale is still going on! You can get ten percent off & free shipping on orders of $85 or more by using this discount code: YAYFJUNE Expires 06/30/2006

More Gap Coupon Codes:
10% off your Gap Card purchase on the first Tuesday of every month. Discount Code: TUESDAYS
Free shipping on orders of $100 or more. Discount Code: FREE100
Free shipping on orders of $50 or more (when using your Gap Card). Discount Code: FREESHIP

Ebates members receive an additional three percent cash back on all Gap purchases.

Take advantage of Old Navy's $5 shipping for any size order.

You can receive free shipping on a purchase of $50 or more at Old Navy. Discount Code: SPECIAL

Ebates members receive an additional three percent cash back on all Old Navy purchases.

Snapfish has tons of coupon codes that are running right now:

5 Extra Prints Free
Code: MAYAFF59906
Valid from 5/4/06 through 07/01/06

20% Off All Memory Books
Code: MAYAFF52006
Valid from 5/4/06 through 07/01/06

Apply a $.99 Shipping Credit to your Order
Code: MAYAFF59906
Valid from 5/4/06 through 07/01/06

$2 Off Order Over $10
Code: MAYAFF5206
Valid from 5/4/06 through 07/01/06

Free Shipping on 5 Prints
Code: MAYAFF59906
Valid from 5/4/06 through 07/01/06

Ebates members receive ten percent cash back on all Snapfish purchases. In addition, just by placing your first order, you will get your first thirty digital camera prints free.

More Saturday Sales:

FoodSaver, 1-800 Contacts, & Entertainment Book sales are found here.

If you are looking for more information on the Ebates program- read my blog entry where I explain how it all works.

Cheap High Speed Internet & Other Tall Tales

Since we moved into this house, we have had high speed internet through AT&T (formerly SBC Yahoo). When we originally signed up with this company, they were offering a promotional offer of $29.99, if you signed up for a year contract with them. At that time, this was the best deal around and we were really pleased with the rate. When my contract ended, however, my price suddenly shot up to $36.00. Why? Well, because I had not signed another contract with them so they had the right to increase my rate.

When I called the salesperson, I was not a happy camper. There was no way I was going to pay this much for our internet. After we made some small talk (what is your account number, what is your social security number, what is your blood type, etc..) I asked why my rate had increased. She told me that my contract had ended in August so they increased my rates. Little did she know that while I was on the phone with her, I was frantically going through their website to find the latest and greatest rate. I asked if I could end that contract and sign up for another year. A resounding, "Yes!" was her reply. She would give me a great deal at $29.99 a month, just like I had before. Unfortunately, my fingers had done the walking and I now knew that they actually were offering the rate of $24.99 per month. When I asked her about this, she asked me if I would like that rate instead. Um....yeah!

I asked what I could do to prevent this from happening again (because I am cheap like that). She instructed me to call her on the date that I had renewed my contract, sign up for another year, and then I could lock into the rate I was currently at.

I took this one step further the following year. I checked the current rate and saw that they were offering the internet for $19.99. When I called the customer service representative, I requested to cancel my contract and then start a new one at the advertised rate of $19.99. There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "Now what is it you would like to do?" Again, I explained that I wanted the current rate...another longer pause. "Well, I see here that you have been a good customer with us and have paid your bills on time. We don't normally do this, but I am willing to make an exception since you have been such a good customer."

I now have written down in my calendar when my contract is set to expire. This gives me the opportunity to lower (or keep) my bill the same. I know that I have a date with the customer service representative on August 1st to discuss my bill and I now see that they are advertising their high speed internet at a mere $12.99.

Ah yes, I pity the fool who must answer my telephone call because I do not back down for THE MAN.

Don't you just love America?

Play it Again, Momma!

It has been awhile since I have done a Play It Again, Momma post. This is just where I get the opportunity to highlight something you might have missed on my blog (particularly for our new readers).

This week, let's take a look back at my Stop the Insanity post where I (insanely) address the question of WHY in the WORLD do we have to spend so much money on all these dang birthday parties.

We are revisiting this post as my son's fourth birthday is quickly approaching. I asked him what he would like to do for his party this year and he said he wants to go to McDonald's..And then I thanked him, and kissed his face, and told him he was the best little boy mommy could ever have, and then I sobbed uncontrollably. A trip to McDonald's is a lot cheaper than a party and I don't have to clean up after a bunch of toddlers have enjoyed their chocolate cake (a tad too much). Anyone is welcome to join us and let their kids play in the giant germ-infested play area, or they can just stay home and relax- it does not matter to me.

We will have a big birthday bash for Emily's first birthday, but we are reserving the bashes now for those *special* celebrations rather than a party for every year they get a little older.

I can put the savings towards a special gift for our son...yes, the gift of a Happy Meal...Just kidding! I'm not that cheap....Or am I?

The Quest to Find Cheap Baby Food

My daughter turns six months on the nineteenth and we are preparing to dive back into the world of baby food again. With our son, I prepared all of his baby food from scratch. It was a lot of work, but it was gratifying financially and rewarding to know that we were saving so much money. This time, I am going to try and find cheap baby food and (when I have time) make my own.

I did some calling around and found Beech-Nut baby food to be the cheapest at our local Save-A-Lot store. I understand that the selection is limited, but the price is a little bit cheaper than other locations.

The nice thing too about Save-A-Lot is that they take coupons (unlike Aldi Supermarket) so I can bring in any coupons that I want to on this brand of baby food. I did some checking for coupons on Ebay (a must visit location for any frugal shopper desiring coupons for formula, diapers, or baby food). I found a seller who was offering twenty Beech-Nut baby food coupons- $1 off 6 jars of any variety of Beech Nut Baby Food. The total cost (including shipping of the coupons) was $3.99. According to my (poor) calculations, this means…

120 Jars of Beech-Nut Baby Food (at Save-A-Lot) $39.60

Coupons ($1 off 6 jars purchased from Ebay) - $20.00

Total Cost for 120 Jars of Baby Food $19.60

Cost for Coupons $3.99

Cost Per Jar of Baby Food $0.20

Now according to my calculations- that is a pretty good deal! Beech-Nut also offers a great program (click under Save More When You Save Labels) where you can receive more coupons by sending them your proofs of purchase. They call this their Label Saver program. 48 proofs of purchase from any Beech-Nut Naturals, First Advantage, or Table Time products will give you four coupons for one dollar off of any ten Beech-Nut items. That means that after I make my purchase of 120 jars, I will get an additional eight dollars in coupons for the next round of baby food (plus more proofs of purchase to credit towards the next round of coupons).

Now what is the cost per ounce for homemade baby food versus the Beech-Nut variety that I ran across? Well, there are 2.5 ounces of baby food in each jar. The cost per ounce is $0.08. The estimated cost to make my own baby food is $0.04 per ounce (give or take a penny depending on what food I am trying to prepare). That means if I actually took the time to make the baby food, I could shave fifty percent off of the cost of baby food. That is a lot to save, but it also would require time and effort on my part. My feeling about this is buy the prepackaged baby food, but only buy the items that require more cost to me or require more effort than they would be worth to be made at home. For example, mashing a banana with a fork is much cheaper and less time consuming than buying the prepackaged baby food. More exotic and expensive fruits are more money for me (and many require a little more preparation) then I might be willing to exert so I will probably spend my money towards these items

We have created a place on our forum where you can share the baby deals that you happen upon in your area. Feel free to share there so we can all reap the benefits of good baby deals!

If you are searching for more baby deals, Baby Cheapskate is a great blog to visit too! Some of the deals are local to their area, but most are national deals that you can take advantage of. She prices out everything for you and tells you the prices to beat- great site & great web mistress in the baby department.

Don't forget to scan the baby freebies that I have shared here and here, for additional savings.

Feel free to discuss how you save on baby food or places that you have found in your area to be the cheapest around. Be sure to include your city/state so that people in your area can find the shops that they need to be looking for.

9rules Network, Baby!

Big Announcement for MomAdvice!

So my husband mentioned about a month ago that he submitted my site to some website network to be considered for membership. I figured this was, yet another, one of those sites that show off fancy-looking sites and that it was just another way to stroke his ego. I gave him one of my “that’s nice dear” comments and promptly forgot everything he had just said.

Then, Monday night, he comes running up the stairs yelling something about “we’re in!” along with a lot of other incoherent babble. After catching his breath, he managed to spit out what all the excitement was about: We are now a member of the incredible 9rules network.

What does that mean? I didn’t really know either at the time, but I’m now running around like a lunatic myself. I think they explain it best:

“The 9rules Network is a community of the best weblogs in the world on a variety of topics. We started 9rules to give passionate writers more exposure and to help readers find great blogs on their favorite subjects. It’s difficult to find sites worth returning to, so 9rules brings together the very best of the independent web all under one roof.”

Sounds impressive doesn’t it? I thought so too, which is why I am so honored and humbled by their invitation into the network. What makes this such a proud moment is that we were accepted, not because of my husband’s wonderful design, but for all the blood, sweat and tears *I’ve* poured into all of the content I’ve written. It is invigorating to know my hard work is being recognized and I will try to continue producing the same in-depth articles, helpful tips, and brilliant wit you all love me for.

In our best Bostonian accents, we say, "Wicked cool!" We look forward to this opportunity and the challenges that it will bring us to do better. I hope you can check out the 9rules Network and see what they are all about.

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Free Up Pantry Space & Make a Snack!

Is it my favorite day of the week yet? Well, it must be! It is Works-For-Me-Wednesday and that means I get a whole bunch of great ideas to use for my family, courtesy of all the great ladies who participate each week. Welcome to this week's installment of Works-For-Me Wednesday! Don't forget to stop by Shannon's blog to view her weekly idea & all of the other great participants. Swing by my entry last week and learn how to get rid of...or..um, regift all of those craft projects your children bring home to you.

This week, I want to discuss a great way I have found to free up pantry space for our family. It seems like we constantly have this shuffle of boxes with half a serving of food in them, particularly those cereal boxes. Now, we know how much space these take up and it is usually wasted space until we buy the same brand of cereal (no, no, you cannot mix two varieties of cereal in this house!) and can actually fill a whole bowl.

Now instead of waiting for this to happen, I make my son mommy's special trail mix. Whatever we need to unload (within reason) goes into the trail mix. Raisins, cereal, peanuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, Easter candy (those random snack size things of M&M's), sunflower seeds, granola, etc.. I put a variety of items in a container and then give them a little shake. This power food goes into a Dollar Tree container (hard plastic so it doesn't get smashed) and I keep it in my purse for all of those snack emergencies. It is much more interesting than a baggie of crackers and he looks forward to seeing what is in the mix each day. That buys me at least five minutes while we are at the store or are out running errands.

That is what Works for Me! Looking forward to reading everyone's entries this week- I learn so much from these ladies!

Latest & Greatest in Traveling Shows

Here are this week's festivals & carnivals for your reading pleasure.

The Carnival of Debt Reduction (#39) is being hosted at Aridni. Our College Coupons was featured in this carnival.

Also over at Aridni, you will find the Festival of Frugality Within this festival is our blog entry on Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work. Thanks to Aridni for featuring both of these entries in these two shows.

Financial Fruition hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance this week. Goodwill is Good was one of the entries chosen to be in this carnival.

Finally, we participated in a new (or new to us) carnival called the Carnival of Family Life. Our Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work was located there as well.

Here are this Frugal Momma's picks for good reads this week:

Money & Values has a great entry on whether or not you haggle.
Paul's Tips offers up his eight best negotiation tips.
It's Just Money shares the way he got coke & popcorn at the movies without breaking his budget.
Tired but happy has some great ideas for making your child's lunch on the cheap. I especially like her tip for yogurt cups!
Model Home shares a free/cheap way to make your pad look sweet throug Craiglist.

Enjoy these goodies today!

Summer Reading Programs

When I was little I loved the summer reading programs that our library offered to us. We had a Bookmobile that used to come right outside of our house and I would load up on books to get the freebies that were offered by the library for doing all of my summer reading. Always an overachiever, I reported to the library that I would read one hundred books during the two month span that the library offered the reading program. I started reading with a passion, and imagine my dismay when I only read ninety-nine books. I couldn’t just read a board book or something to get the credit because that wouldn’t be me. No, I had to report to the librarian that I did not make my summer reading goal and forfeited my chance to earn the prizes. You would think that they would have given me the free book bag or something considering how close I was to the goal…but no! It was a disappointing summer for me and one my family loves to laugh about now. For some reason this is still not funny to me- not accomplishing my goals is not a joking matter to me…well, maybe it is a little bit funny.

We have already worked hard with Ethan (and even Emily) on instilling the love of reading within them. We hit the library regularly for the kids and my husband reads to our son every night. Reading has always been such an important thing to me (and still is) and I want that for our children too. Thankfully, there are many opportunities to help our children read, particularly during the summer months when there are so many programs open to kids to get them to read during the summer.

Here are the programs that I know of. Please feel free to post any additional reading programs that you know about through our comments section….even if they are local (just post city/state) since there is bound to be someone else in your area looking for something too!

Scholastic’s Summer Reading Buzz

Scholastic offers a great summer reading program and their site includes tips for you on choosing books for your children that are age-appropriate based on the grade level that they are entering into. Scholastic is offering a donation to K.I.D.S. for each book your child reads. K.I.D.S. is a global charity of leading retailers, manufacturers, and licensors of children's and youth products, in partnership with major foundations, committed to helping improve the lives of children and their families who are ill, living in poverty, or are the victims of natural disasters. Sign up now and you can start an online reading log to help give books to kids in need. Plus, you can enter to win cool prizes, test your wits with book quizzes, find tons of printable fun, and more!

Build-A-Bear Workshop

Join Build-A-Bear’s Summer Reading Program and get free stuff! If your child reads three books by June 30th, they will get a free bookmark. If your child reads six books by July 31st, they will get a five dollar gift card for their store & you can print out a reading certificate of achievement for them. Now the question is…what can you get for five dollars at Build-A-Bear? Hmm….I have not been in that store yet, so I am not sure, but you might want to bring your wallet with you when you go! Again, sometimes free doesn’t mean free!

Barnes & Noble

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program, they have partnered with Lemony Snicket, author of the A Series of Unfortunate Events collection, to foster a love of reading and its rewards. A Summer of Unfortunate Events 2006 Reading Program benefits students in the first through sixth grades and is designed to encourage kids to develop their own reading preferences and motivate them with a meaningful incentive to join Lemony Snicket and the doomed Baudelaire children on an unfortunate summer adventure.Through our Summer Reading program, it’s easy for kids to earn free books! They simply read any eight books—library books, books borrowed from friends or books bought at Barnes & Noble—write about their favorite part, and bring a completed A Summer of Unfortunate Events Journal page to a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Everything you need to help your students or children participate—and earn free books! —is available in PDF format.

*Please note that this link goes to their Community Page. For some reason (probably due to copyright laws) the link will not work directly. Just click under the summer reading program. If this link stops working, then just run a search under Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program and it should pop up within your search**

Reading is Fundamental & Target Stores

RIF and Target invite you to make reading a part of summertime fun by tracking your reading hours online for a chance to win a Target Gift Card (limited quantity available - see official rules for details). Plus, you'll find activities, games, and ways to be a part of the RIF Reading Planet Club. Despite the fact that you only win a *chance* to receive a Target Gift Card, there are plenty of great downloads available on their site. They have a bookmark that you can download (to keep track of your hours read), a club for reading, and a free summer reading screensaver (Gotta have a theme for your computer, right?) You can also download a summer reading activity booklet.

Don’t forget to also check your local library for some of the best summer reading programs around. If you are looking for great reading material, the First Lady has compiled a list of great reads for each age group. This list can be a great starting point for your child and will help you find great age-appropriate reading material for your children.

One more helpful note, don’t let your child sign up to read one hundred books!

Happy reading, everyone!

Monday WAHM Spotlight: Usborne Books

A big congratulations to Dawn on being chosen as our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I am a little on overload with these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.

Thank you to Dawn and her WAHM business, Usborne Books, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature!

Name: Dawn Berkley

City/State: Beecher, Illinois

Company: Usborne Books at Home

Website: http://www.readingcanbefun.com

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

Usborne Books at Home offers over 1300 award-winning, beautifully illustrated, educational and fun books and activity kits for children ages infant to young adult. We offer amazing hostess and consultant benefits!

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

1. Find something you are passionate about. With so many companies to choose from, you really can make money at almost anything- so pick something you will ENJOY doing!

2. Find a balance. I sometimes have to step back from my business a little to make sure that my kids and husband get all the attention they need (and deserve) Make a schedule that works for you AND your family. They will support you more!

New Uses for That Old Phone Book

Last week our new phone book arrived. The book was sitting out by our mailbox and I immediately had some flashbacks to the old days when we were so excited about our new phone book arriving. When we were kids, the McDonald's in our area would give a free hamburger to you if you turned your phone book into them. We would have family & friends save their phone books and we would haul in five of them so that we could all have a free hamburger. Those were the days!

I don't know of any programs like this anymore, but there can still be some great uses for your old phone books...These are just a few creative ones that I came up with!

1) Use your phone book to do your crafts on. Open up the book and work on your projects (painting, glitter, or anything else that is messy). When your project is complete, just tear and dispose of the pages.

2) A phone book can be an instant booster seat. Stack one for a tall child or a few for the smaller kids. If you are ambitious, you could make a "ghetto booster seat" (this name was made by my husband). Cover the booster seat with the comics section of the paper or with vinyl to make an inexpensive seat for your child.

3) Tear pages out to use for packing material. This is a creative and free solution for all of those Ebay packages you are shipping!

4) The pages of the book can be used to wipe down windows. Use your favorite cleaning solution and wad the torn pieces to do a quick (lint free) swipe on the windows.

5) Do paper crafts using the phone book pages. Paper airplanes & origami can be done using the old pages. This is great for the children who like to continuously practice on new sheets of paper.

6) Old phone book pages can be a creative gift-wrapping solution. For example, wrapping phone cards or a gift card to a restaurant, pizza, books, massage, etc.. (pull that section of the phone book out for wrapping these gifts) is a free alternative to pricey gift wrap.

7) Stick the old phone book into your car for the unexpected calls. If you need to make a reservation, set up an appointment, or are looking for a particular business & are lost- just pull out the phone book to find the respective number. No need to call for information if it is right there in your car!

8) If all else fails, recycle the book. You will need to find out if your particular area recycles them and what days they take the books. Most areas have a specific week that you can put them in the bins for recycling.

Feel free to share any of your own ideas on things you can use your old phone book for by clicking on the comments button.

Goodwill is Good

I hit Goodwill last weekend and I was so glad that I did. Pictured here, is a gorgeous sterling silver serving tray that I got for a mere fifteen bucks. I was so excited to have found it! I brought it home, with the intention of selling it on Ebay, but have grown attached to it. My husband and I decided that we would like to mount it on the wall because the detail on the inside is so beautiful. Yes, yes, yes, I know that silver must be polished- but isn’t it so worth it when you see this piece?

I frequent Goodwill quite regularly and have become a Goodwill Booster Club member for the past three years. The way I understood this, from the Goodwill website, is that each of the stores operates independently and each individual store may offer something different in their policies and what they accept. In our town, they offer a Goodwill Booster Club membership for five dollars per year. For five dollars, I receive twelve (for each month) coupons that I can use anytime during the month. With this coupon, I can choose any day that I want and make it my fifty percent off day. This is nice because my fifty percent off day isn’t everyone else’s fifty percent off day, allowing me to have a better selection and to use it when I know that it is going to be worth it. If they don’t offer this in your town, it might be worth inquiring about or sharing this type of program with them.

There is also a great online Goodwill site that you can visit to score amazing items that they have put up for auction. Shopgoodwill is the newest Goodwill store offering a wide array of antiques and collectibles pulled from Goodwill’s vast inventory of donated goods. They offer everything from unique one-of- a kind items to estate pieces. Revenues from these auction sales fund education, job training and job placement programs for people with disabilities and other disadvantages.

Don’t forget that you can donate items to Goodwill too! They take all types of donations including that rusted-out old car that you have sitting in front of your house on bricks. All donations are tax-deductible and it will free up more space for your treasures that you run across when you go to garage sales this summer. Check out their website for more details and tips on their donation procedures.

In short, Goodwill be good for this frugal momma!

PF Blogger Spotlight: MomAdvice

I just wanted to share the good news that I was the featured Personal Finance Blogger being showcased on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. I got the opportunity to do a little interview with Jim and share more about our site (with hopefully some folks who haven't heard about us). I hope you guys can take a peek since I was pretty excited to see it up. Jim's site is great and worth your time if you are trying to save money. He is also the guy whose traveling show I look forward to the most- the amazing Festival of Frugality.

Many thanks to Jim for giving us the opportunity and welcome to those of you who happened upon our site through his interview. I am very appreciative.

Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively

Welcome to this installment of Works-For-Me Wednesday! Once again, thanks to Shannon for her great idea and please visit her blog to view all the other wonderful participants. Last week, I discussed my single cup coffeemaker and an easy way to get your coffee to your travel mug. You can view that blog entry here. I was having some difficulty with my camera so if you were missing a visual for that one, I finally uploaded a picture and you can see exactly how I do this.

Today I thought I would share my creative solution for weeding through my son's art work. My son attends preschool and they do a craft every day that he is there. He attends two days and also attends bible school on Sundays, where they make some type of craft there too. That means (at minimum) we are bringing home three crafts a week.

Now I love everything my son brings home, but there are just those *special* crafts that really stick out in my mind. There are the ones that are pictures of his family, or ones that have his beautiful handprints- stuff like that. Then there are those that are just funny that I can't wait to show him later in life. Like, when they had "Q" day and had to make a Queen and our son only put hair on one side of her face. My husband pronounced this his, "Boy George" queen and every single time one of us walks by it we sing, "Do you really want to hurt me?" Or the time where he put the duck's eyes upside down and it actually kind of looked freaky because the eyes were those googly bouncy eyes and it just looked...well, scary!

As for the other crafts, we have found a good way to share these with others. Each family occasion (birthdays, illness, or a thank you) we ask our son to pick one piece of art work that he would like to give as his gift. He picks one that is special to him and he tells us what he would like for us to write on it, as a special message just from him. This has helped him learn to share his talents with others and also becomes a special gift just from him. He loves showing his art work off and we love weeding through the countless art projects that come our way. On our gifts, we attach the craft on top of the wrapped gift and this is much more creative than a bow! As you can see, this Works-For-Me and I look forward to sharing with you guys more next week!

Visit the Traveling Shows

Just wanted to share the latest and greatest in this week's carnivals & festivals.

The Carnival of Debt Reduction (# 38) is up over at the Mighty Bargain Hunter. She has included only the links to those that actually fit the profile (carnival of debt reduction=debt reduction blog entries). Our Sharing the Bounty entry made the cut. Thank you to our faithful Mighty Bargain Hunter for including us in this week's carnival. Aridni will be hosting next week.

The Carnival of Personal Finance (#51) has traveled over to MapGirl's Fiscal Challenge. MapGirl highlights her personal faves and showcases the best of the best in the carnival. Our Frugal Teacher Gift was included this week.

Finally, The Festival of Frugality(#26) has been posted over at Value Investing & a Few Cigar Butts. This guy is amazing- fifteen years old and already hosting a festival! It is his first and he did an excellent job. You have to love someone with ambition like that!

Frugal Momma's Top Picks:

Frugal Upstate has a great blog entry on how to beat the heat during these hot summer days. Jenn comes up with inventive (and cost-effective) ideas for keeping cool.

Stop Buying Crap has a great entry on how to choose a lender for consolidating your student loan debt. We have finally made the decision to deal with this and I am breathing a sigh of relief now that we have lowered in and locked into our interest rate. PLEASE PLEASE, if you haven't taken advantage of consolidating, be sure to do this BEFORE July 1st! Be sure to read this blog entry to help guide you in choosing the best lender for you & your family.

Young & Broke has blogged about Dave Ramsey and his radical approach to dealing with debt. I have read some of his books and agree with some of his philosophies (particularly the ones that are highlighted in her blog entry) so this is definitely worth a peek. It is a radical way of dealing with your debt, but when you are in the poor house, you need radical measures to get you back on track.

Monday WAHM Spotlight: Tupperware

A big congratulations to Carmen Cranford on being chosen as our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I am a little on overload with these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.

Thank you to Carmen and her WAHM business, Tupperware, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature!

Name: Carmen Cranford

City/State: Ashdown, Arkansas

Name of Company: Tupperware

Website Name: http://my2.tupperware.com/1Csquared

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

Tupperware storage, kitchenware, seasonings, host parties -online or offline and earn extra spending money to pay bills.

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

Stay organized: keep a notepad by your pc to keep up with email addresses and links; keep a file (hard copy) of customers on index cards. Always give excellent customer service. Always get back with past customers- ask if they were pleased or not with their products.

College Coupons

If you have been following my blog, you will know that I shared frugal gift ideas for the graduates in your life. One of my ideas was college coupons. We just happened to be going to a graduation this weekend, so my husband and I designed college coupons that you could print out and personalize for yourself. If you visit our free downloads section you can print out these coupons and choose the options that you are willing to help the graduate with (laundry, cookies, dinner at your house, etc..). You can download these here. This makes a nice (and inexpensive gift) and can be a gift that they enjoy throughout their school year (instead of just one day!)

I mounted my coupons on heavy cardstock. Then I stamped the top, punched a hole and attached the three together with ribbon. On the back, I wrote "Please Rush" and put one of those free address labels (another idea for using these is in this other blog entry) so that the graduate can mail this directly to me as a postcard.

I hope that this download will be useful to you and help cut down on the expense of graduation gifts for you & your family! Check my other entry on simplifying gift giving for other ideas that you can use for cutting down the expense of gift-giving!

Sharing the Bounty

I love to feed people. I mean I LOVE to feed people. I am one of those annoying people that is offended if you don't have seconds, don't compliment me on how delicious my food is, and will force you to eat even when you aren't hungry. I love to try new recipes and have a desire to share everything that I make with others. Since I have a knack for feeding people, I enjoy taking meals to those in need. If you are sick, having a baby, feeling blue, lost a loved one- I will be knocking at your door with food in hand...whether you asked for it or not. I have not had anyone refuse my efforts yet and this is the only way I know how to act in crisis situations. This would be a typical Amy conversation:

Friend: My dog just died
Amy: I will bring a casserole and you will feel much better

Since I prepare meals often, I am getting my delivery of food down to a science. Here are a few helpful pointers for the frugal-minded on how to make your dinner special (but cheap!)

1. Although you may be frugal, this may be the time to break out the disposable stuff. I try and stock up on foil pans at the Dollar Tree and have these on hand to put meals in. I also have a lot of mismatched containers (ones missing lids) that you can use that Glad Press & Seal stuff on and cover those containers that you wouldn't normally use. I usually bring disposable containers to people who I don't know very well and am unsure if I will get my stuff back from them. For family and close friends, I do have a set of dishes that I use just for delivering meals.

2. If I actually deliver food to people in my "real" dishes, I stick those free address labels on them to make sure that I get my pans back. These labels are particularly handy for the new mommies who are weary from being up with their new little bundle of joy. Usually they are getting multiple meals and it is easy to have your things get lost in the shuffle. I put my address labels on these containers and it makes it easier for them to remember who gave them the dish and they have my address handy for thank you notes (if they feel like thanking me, which is unnecessary, but always appreciated!)

3. A tray or a sturdy box makes delivery much easier. My sister-in-law pointed out a tray to me when we were at TJ Maxx and I got it for less than ten bucks. It is so nice to stack everything on the tray to take to people, drop off the food, and take my tray home for the next round of meals.

4. Pick dishes that s-t-r-e-t-c-h. I usually fix pasta dishes for meals because I know that I can make a lot for them without going over on my own grocery budget. Making something that you can easily double is also very important. You can freeze a batch for yourself or eat it that night for dinner and have one less meal to worry about.

These are a few of my favorite dishes to take to folks because they are wallet friendly and make a wonderful presentation (with minimal efforts).

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce w/Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 # lean ground turkey
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
¼ cup gratedParmesann cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg beaten

Sauce:
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cans crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
2 teaspoon white sugar
3 teaspoons salt

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed. In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute garlic in olive oil until translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover in slow cooker and heat on low, and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and meatballs and simmer 2 hours or more. Serve sauce & meatballs over penne pasta.

*For time-saving, you can bake the meatballs on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees and then add them to the sauce.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

2#'s beef stew meat, cubed
6 cups of various veggies- carrots, potatoes and celery
1 can diced tomatoes (with the juice poured in)
1 can beef broth
1 cup water
1 tsp ground mustard
salt and pepper
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Put beef in a zipper bag with a 1/4 cup of flour and toss to coat. Brown the meat in a skillet and place on the bottom of the crock pot. Coarsely chop vegetables and place on top of the meat. Pour in the can of diced tomatoes with juice, can of beef broth, water, and ground mustard. Place sprigs of rosemary on top and cook on high for four hours or on low for six to eight hours.

Taco Soup

1 pound ground turkey
1 can chili beans, with liquid
1 can kidney beans, with liquid
1 can whole kernel corn, with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 package of taco seasoning mix

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain & set aside. Place the ground beef, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, & taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix to blend and cook on Low setting for eight hours.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1 (8 ounce) package egg noodles, broken into pieces
¼ cup butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups of chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons sherry
1 package mushrooms
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13” baking dish. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook for eight to ten minutes or until al dente; drain. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter and cook garlic in the butter. Stir in flour, salt, & pepper. Cook stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and gradually stir in chicken broth & cream. Return to heat, and bring to a low boil for one minute stirring constantly. Add sherry, then stir in cooked spaghetti, mushrooms, & chicken. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake for thirty minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly brown.

Classic Baked Ziti

1 pound lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32 ounce) jar meatless sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta, cooked & drained
2 (8 ounce) cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, cook ground beef & garlic over medium-high heat for six to eight minutes or until beef is browned; stirring frequently. Stir in spaghetti sauce, chicken broth, & oregano. Reduce heat & simmer for ten minutes. Stir one cup of the sauce into the cooked ziti noodles. Spoon half of the ziti mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese & a 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Top with two cups sauce, then remaining ziti mixture & remaining sauce. Cover & bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella & Parmesan cheese. Return to oven & bake uncovered for ten minutes or until heated through.

Feel free to share your own recipes in the comments section so that we all can get new ideas for meals!

Friday Freebie...Free Donuts (yum, yum!)

Here is a freebie worth waiting in line for. Stop by Krispy Kreme on June 2nd (Friday) and get yourself a FREE doughnut of your choice. They are celebrating doughnut day and we are celebrating freebies. Now this is truly a freebie worth celebrating for...Enjoy!

A Visual for Works-For-Me Wednesday

I was having trouble with my camera on Wednesday so I didn't have a picture to go along with my Wednesday solution. This was really bugging me so I am now posting the picture that was supposed to go up yesterday. Be sure to read my blog entry on this coffee making solution!

I hope this helps explain this a little better, although I have to say that the coffee picture I chose was much more beautiful than this digital picture I took.

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone!

Frugal Teacher Gift

Today is my son's last day of school in his current class. We have enrolled him for the summer session, but he will be moving up to a different age level and will be with new teachers for the summer and the fall.

For each of his teachers, I have always tried to do something for them for Christmas and for the end of the school year. Usually for Christmas I get them a small gift and/or a Christmas cookie platter for their family. For the end of the school year, I try and make a little something for them to show our appreciation. My mother-in-law is a teacher, so I have seen some of the things that she has received from her students. Usually it is some type of #1 Teacher mug or something like that which is nice, but ends up in the collection of teacher stuff that she has and isn't really used. I know she has always appreciated gift cards, but I hate to put a dollar amount on our appreciation because we just don't have the kind of money to spend on two great teachers who deserve so much.

Last week, I decided to make some banana bread out of some of the bananas that we had that were becoming just a tad too ripe for eating. I have a very nice stoneware mini loaf pan from Pampered Chef that I happened upon at Goodwill (purchased for five dollars and still in the box NEVER used!). I made four mini loafs and then stuck three of the loaves in the freezer to be used later in the week. I love using this pan because I always have a couple of small loaves to give to people for those last minute type of gifts. When we are invited to dinner to someone's house or someone helps us with the kids, it is the perfect size and a great thank you gift to show our generosity.

This morning, I pulled two of these loaves out to be given to our teachers. I made little thank you cards for them and gave them their banana bread this morning. They were very appreciative and it is something I know that they will enjoy (because they both love banana bread!) and it won't be one of those gifts that is appreciated, but never used!

Here is my recipe for the world's greatest banana bread. It makes the perfect gift and has been enjoyed by our family over the years! Just double the recipe to make four mini loaves or to make two large loaves.

Heavenly Banana Bread

2 cups all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 1/3 cups mashed overview bananas - usually is about four bananas

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 60-65 minutes. Allow bread to cool ten minutes in pan and then turn onto wire rack.

**In a mini-loaf pan, I start testing these after they have baked for about fifty minutes**