Thrity Frugal Tip

Thrifty Frugal Tips - this post is cross-posted to Jamie's I am a Money Magnet's Thrifty Tip Tuesday.

Ever taken long car trips and tried to figure out where your money went when you actually got to your destination?

It has happened to Bear and I more times that I would like to admit. Now, we have a fail safe way of “safeguarding” our money from blowing out the window as we drive down the road. This is what we pack when we travel back home, going out for an all-day at the barn or are heading to a horse show! (If we go to a horse show we will take our portable grill)

Here are our tips for a Frugal trip:

1. Hydration – I fill our gallon jug with lots of Ice (I start bagging our ice a week before we leave so my ice maker makes plenty of “free” ice) and pour in our home-brewed Tea, along with a few cans of soda (diet Mtn Dew) and some bottled water (with crystal light packets). All purchased prior to leaving and with coupons. Now when you stop to fuel up – you are only paying for fuel and not 100% marked up drinks!
2. Snacks – I pack a box of ritz crackers, a loaf of bread, a small baggy of Dill Pickles (free food for a diabetic), chips, Lunch Meat, cream cheese tortilla wrap-ups w/ham/turkey, Fruit (apples, bananas, cantaloupe, honey dew, grapes), hardboiled eggs, thermos of hot soup (you would be amazed at how long this keeps), Peanut butter and Jelly, Sliced Cheddar Cheese – Medium and Sharp, Pre-cooked bacon (made the night before), Small container of Mayo & Mustard, small set of Salt and Pepper shakers, Plastic forks, knives, spoons, and paper plates w/napkins. Put only the items that need to stay chilled in your ice-chest – the rest put in a small box.
3. Create a check list for each person/animal and make sure you review as you are packing items into their bag/trailer – DO NOT OVERPACK – you will be sorry if you do! I made a master list for day horse shows, overnight shows, day trips, or trips back home. This makes it easier for me to just grab the appropriate list, make any adjustments (based on weather or length) but keeps me from reinventing the wheel each and every time! If you are going to the lake for the weekend – do you really need the hair dryer, curling iron, and all that make-up? Really? Be honest with yourself – me, I’m in it for the fun and the motto “Less is More” works for me.
4. I keep a baggie of all kinds of samples of lotions, shampoos, conditioners, soaps, toothpaste that is strictly for travel. I am not packing those huge bottles when I can get by with a couple of the sample bottles! I just check to make sure I have enough for the time we will be gone and throw it in the bag. I also purchase with coupons the handi-wipes and keep several tucked away in different locations – I keep one on ice so if it is hot outside you can cool off for a bit with one of these.
5. Medicine! Very important – be sure that you have pill boxes for each member of your family and fill enough to cover each day you will be gone. This eliminates the issue of having to carry the bottles. I have the labels that they give you on your receipt pasted in my planner for each and every pill that I put in the box. This is in case of an emergency you can give this to the medics/nurses or doctor.
6. Jewelry – leave it at home – why bring it and chance it being lost.
7. Fuel – did you know that most convenience stores will put a hold on your card of anywhere from $1.00 - $100.00 if you pay at the Pump. AND THEN THEY CHARGE YOUR CARD FOR YOUR ACTUAL PURCHASE! True story – I paid at the pump and filled our big truck up – took $85.00 but the store held $100.00 on my card and then held the actual purchase of $85.00 on my card – this was my debit card! This hold was held for 3 days over a weekend! Once the store rolled their tapes – the $100.00 hold was released but it took THREE DAYS to release! It pays to go in use CASH or CARD INSIDE the store – STOP using the Pay at the Pump feature.
8. Get a list of ATM’s from your Bank that will allow you to withdraw from them without a charge. It’s nice to know which ones won’t charge you an arm and a leg just to give you YOUR money!
9. Make sure your phones are charged and at least one charger is packed. Turn your phones off while traveling – going in and out of service will tend to drain your battery. Bear and I have some great conversations as we are driving down the road. It’s a good time to talk about everything and make plans for the future!
10. If you have people that will be taking care of your horses/dogs/cats/ or other animals or your home while you are away – take the time to write down all instructions, important telephone numbers.
11. If there are toll roads you will be travelling on – be sure to have some cash and change handy – nothing like rolling up to a toll booth to find out you spent your last $3.00 on that soda and candy bar!
12. Last – don’t pack the house – I promise it will be there when you return and most of all – HAVE FUN!

Thrifty Tips - Creating Habits of Frugality

Creating Habits of Frugality

This post is in connection with Jamie’s, I am a Money Magnet’s Thrifty Tip Tuesday post.

Have you ever sat back and wondered about all the areas that you could save money but then it got so overwhelming that you just didn’t do anything?

Well, that is where I was a few years ago, overwhelmed by all the possibilities and not knowing where to begin.

What I do know is that you need to start somewhere, so why not make it an easy place to start. That is what I did; I found one thing that I could focus on for one month. It takes 30 days of doing something everyday to make it a habit. The first thing I did was set up our Chicken Account (petty cash fund). We were not very diligent about throwing our extra change everyday into the Chicken Account so for one month I challenged both Bear and I to do just that – when we get home in the evening we empty our wallet and pockets of all loose change. It didn’t take 30 days to make that a habit, just shy of two weeks and we were both contributing to the Chicken Account.

We use this “account” for small purchases instead of using our ATM/Credit cards. Once the Chicken Account is “full” we deposit all but $10.00 in change into our Animals Savings Account. About every three months we are depositing close to $150.00 into the Animals savings account (they can usually blow threw it pretty quickly for vaccines, meds, and such).

Once you have created that “habit of frugality” move on to your next 30 days. You may even want to start this sooner. It’s okay if you do or you don’t; only you know when you are ready.

I began to coupon in earnest. I clipped in the past but had not done the coupon match-ups to sales and stockpiling. Now with this, break it into baby steps. Find your system for keeping coupons and be consistent about staying on top of it. Each week only designate a certain amount of time to this and it’s okay if you don’t finish; you will get better and faster with time. Now find some blogs that do coupon match-ups. I am a Money Magnet will post links to the blogs she uses or find ones that you like. My theory is; why reinvent the wheel if it’s already rolling! This may or may not take 30 days and that is okay because you are working on saving money! It took me about 45 days to figure out my process and my system for keeping coupons. I keep a notebook with baseball card pages that I use to keep my coupons. I have these divided into sections that work for me.

Once you are fluent in Coupon match-ups to sales it’s time to look at stockpiling. This is where you will buy more at rock bottom prices to get you to the next sale – it’s cyclical at about every 3-6 weeks. You will get to where you know when it is about time for that particular item to go on sale. Also, be on the look out for “high” dollar coupons that will get you items for free or next to free with little out of pocket expense. These items may or may not have to be on sale. For example, the recent Mighty Dog coupon $3.00 off when you buy 5 cans. Well, if you have a PetsMart Card (if you have pets and you don’t have one – get one if you have a PetsMart in your area) then the cans individually will cost you $.55 each – buy 5 and your cost is $2.75. Use your coupon and you will have an overage of $.25. Now you will have to buy what we call a “filler” item for the overage. Get another can of the Mighty Dog for $.30 after the overage. I purchased more of these coupons through a coupon clipping service. I will have 200 cans of Mighty Dog for less than $.05 per can after you figure in the cost for the coupons.

Another thing you can do that doesn’t take much time is to sign-up for rewards programs online. Here are just a few that we belong to:
Khols
JC Penney
Red Robin
Smokey Bones
Famous Footwear
PetsMart
Q’dobas
CVS
Walgreens

You will receive AWESOME savings in the mail, and through e-mail from these companies.

These are just a few things that you can do to kick start yourself into creating “habits of frugality” and trust me, once you master a couple of areas the others are easy to master!

Good Luck and let me know if you have any frugal tips – we are all here to help each other out!

Thrifty Frugal Tip(s) for the week

This post is linked to Jamie's I am a Money Magnet's Thrifty Tip Tuesday post.

Do you make a grocery list to shop by? Think about starting - it's fairly simple process that will save you a ton of money!

Through the week, Bear and I write down what we need on our grocery list conveniently hung on our refrigerator. On Saturday evening I take this list down and review the list with the upcoming sales to see what coupons I need to pull. This helps us keep to our budgeted allotment and when there is a stockpile opportunity we will have extra $$ to take advantage.

Do you shop at thrift stores, estate sales and garage sales? Think about starting - it's fun and will save you a ton of money! Remember my post about my tea kettle? I have wanted a tea Kettle for quite sometime but did not want to hand over the money for a new one. I began looking at thrift stores, estate sales and garage sales and after 6 months I found one for $2.00 saving me about $30-$40.00 just for being patient and looking. We also were able to pick up three "blankies" for Maestro for $1.00 - these are easily washed and we can now rotate them so he always has a fresh "blankie" to sleep on.

We also pick up knives for the barn - we are forever cutting baling twine and need a good knife but I don't want to pay more than $.25 for a knife to keep at the barn so we pick them up at garage sales.

Towels and linens are another favorite item you can find at garage sales and estate sales. I picked up 5 towel sets for $5.00 - $1.00 a set! They were almost brand new, nice big fluffy towels, hand towel, and wash rags for $1.00 a set - you can't even look at a wash rag for that let alone a set! Just take them home and put them through a good hot wash and dry and voila' you have new towels!

We also pick up pans that we can repurpose into dog food bowls at home. I am on the hunt for good stainless steel bowls that I can convert into dog food bowls and water bowls. These are easy to clean and they take the abuse that Duke can throw at them. He is Mister Destruction when it comes to plastic or toys.

Scissors, oh my goodness, never pay full price for a set of scissors again! I just found a pair of craftsman pinking shears that were loose like something needed tightening for $1.00 - they were craftsman so I could exchange them at Sears. Bear fixed them and they are as good as new - have you priced Pinking shears - especially a good pair? I have all sorts of scissors in all of our drawers, first aid kits, car, truck, trailer and at the barn.

Pots and pans for cooking - I found three very nice Pampered Chef baking stones, two were still in the box never used and one had been used maybe once or twice for $6.00 ($2.00 each). I love these stones - two are round and one is square and they make a mean casserole or biscuits!

Think outside of the box or stockpile when you go to these types of sales. One year we hit several estate sales, I was looking for crystal platters or Cake servers as Christmas gifts. Some of these had really pretty designs and were old. I found ten of these platters for less than $20.00 and combined them with some sausage, crackers, and cheese wrapped in some nice cellophane with a nice bow and they have a gift to treasure - everytime they use the platter they will think of you! I kept two of these for myself and when we took them down for Christmas all of James' sisters and his Mom loved the platters. I'm thinking this year maybe the year for fancy tea cups and saucers with some fancy tea? What do you think?

Well, those are some frugal tips for this week.....what do you do frugal to help your family stay in budget but have fun?

Homemade Mosquito and Handi-Wipe Recipes - For Equines, Canines & Humans!

If you get bit by a mosquito take a roll-on antiperspirant and roll it on over the itch! REALLY! If you have been bitten and are itching to no end, for fast relief, roll-on the antiperspirant over the bite which will make the swelling go down and you will experience relief from itching.

"The aluminum salts in the antiperspirant help the body reabsorb the fluid in the bug bite, so it can't cause a reaction anymore," explains Kenneth Haller, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University.

This also will help horses who get big welps from fly and mosquito bites. I wait for the roll-on antiperspirant to go on sale with my coupons and buy four- one for the trailer, one for the truck, one for the barn and one for the house! Once they are empty, I re-use the roll-on container for fly spray to get the delicate eye and ear area on my horses. I just pop the ball out and rinse both container and ball well and then pour with some good fly spray and pop the ball back in and voila' I have a roll-on fly repellent for less than what you purchase them retail.

Homemade Travel Hand Wipes">Homemade Travel Hand Wipes /a>
Materials Needed:
1/4 cup vodka or Isotopyl Alcohol
1/4 cup water
Juice from 1/2 lemon or you can use Essential oils like lavender or rose.
Paper Towels (use a thick, sturdy towel or cloths which is what we use) If you use paper towels be sure that you get them on sale with coupons!
Plastic seal tight container to store your paper towels in or a ziplock bag.

Directions:
Take the cardboard center out of the paper towels.
Cut the towels down the middle to make two sections.
If using the Ziplock Bag:
Lay one section at a time a shallow dish.
Mix the liquid ingredients together then pour over top of the towels.
Once towels are completely saturated take your gallon ziplock bag and
carefully place your paper towels in the ziplock container making sure to
squeeze the air out when sealing the bag.
If using the air tight container:
Place paper towel rolls in the containers and pour your liquid over the paper towels. Wait 5 minutes then flip the containers over to evenly distribute the solution on the paper towels. Make sure your container is airtight.
Repeat as needed until you have the amount of wipes you require.
Store any unused liquid in an airtight container to use next time.
Note: You can use strips of flannelette if you prefer (then launder and reuse)

These are fairly inexpensive to use and last quite a while - very nice to use to wipe a horse down with prior to entering the show ring or cleaning

Thrifty Frugal Tip Tuesday

Remember my post on how to keep your puppy/dog sweet smelling without giving them a bath all the time? Well, here is another tip - pick up a bottle of Nature's Miracle and when you wash your dogs bedding put in the recommended amount - this will help to break down the enzymes from your puppy/dog and if they are soiling their bedding it will help to break that cycle. In addition, if it is a nice day - hang the bedding outside to dry in the sun as this will also help to kill bacteria and enzymes.

Here is a homemade frozen dog treat recipe that my dogs LOVE for summer - I call it Biscuitcicle:

Make some homemade chicken or beef broth, cool it and poor 1/2 into small reusable ziploc cups - you want it large enough that they can't wolf it down or chomp it in two bites. Let it get a little tacky and then add a dog biscuit and finish by pouring the rest of the cup up with broth - you can make a half and half if you like - get creative! Pop them out and put them in a baggie when fully frozen and keep in your freezer. When it's a hot day outside and your working in the yard and you take a break with some nice cold ice tea - pop one of these out of the freezer and give you your puppy/dog - they will lay down and lick and chew away and it will help them cool off too!

For our horses I freeze a five gallon bucket of water with apples and carrots in it and pop it out and let them go after it. They love this treat. I will also throw a couple of ice blocks in their stock tank - they love to play with the cubes and it helps cool the water down!

Did you know that at Famous Footwear you can stack a Rewards $$ off coupon with a % off coupon? This is the only place we shop for shoes - Bear loves shoe shopping and can spend hours in the store - Pair the stacking of two coupons with their Sales & Buy one get one Half off specials and go to town. This even applys to their clearance which is the first rack we hit!

Have you found a coupon that you really like and would help you stockpile but you don't want to purchase multiple papers just for the one high-dollar coupon - Think Ebay! I just purchased for 10.00 (shipping included) for both auctions clipping service for 40 Mighty Dog Coupons ($3.00/5). You do not purchase the coupons you are paying for clipping services and time. Did you read about my deal at PetsMart on Sunday? The cans are .55 each with a Pets Perk Card - with my coupon 5 cans are FREE (overage if you add a filler which I will)! 40 x 5 = 200 cans of Mighty Dog for my crew - That is .05 per can! Now you ask me what do I do with 200 cans of dog food - I won't have to buy canned for awhile - I can donate some to Stray Rescue, use it in some homemade treat recipes (more on that later), and feed it to my guys! I just love it when a plan comes together. Check it out - it works for me and Jamie also buys whole inserts off Ebay!

Well, that is my Thrifty Frugal Tip for Tuesday. This post is linked to Jamie's post at I am a Money Magnet's Thrifty Tip Tuesday - Go check it out - always good tips to use!

Thrifty Frugal Tip - Sweet Smelling Pets without shampooing

Thrifty Frugal Tip - for I am a Money Magnet's Thrifty Tip Tuesday Post.

Does your dog smell, well, like a dog? Do you hate giving your dog a bath? Does he/she hate getting baths?

Did you know that over bathing can cause dry skin? Well, it does which causes your dog to itch more which in turn causes more dander that you have to sweep up.

Here is a trick to extend the times between bathing. Not only is this easy to mix up it is so Frugally cheap and out performs the branded stuff!

Find an empty shaker bottle (I use a small coffee can w/lid and I've punched small holes in it) - and put this in the shaker bottle - Mix well - 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup Cornstarch. Now if you want a little smell to it and you have some dried rosemary or mint add this to the mix and mix well or you can add some essential oil like rose, lavender, or vanilla. Just be sure you mix it WELL before putting it in your shaker. Now take your doggie outside or somewhere where you can easily clean up and shake this over his coat. Lightly rub into the coat and then brush out - do not over shake the mix onto your dog - just lightly dust him. This will deodorize him without stripping his coat of all the oils plus it lifts dirt up so you can brush it out!

This stuff will last forever - just keep adding to it at the ratio of 1 : 1 and mixing it well.

If your dog is long haired, I recommend doing this in sections at a time. I use our Furminator when I do this and you would not believe the results!

Our Chicken Account (Petty Cash fund)

I am reposting this frugal tip for Jamie's, I am a Money Magnet, Thrifty Tip Tuesday.

Meet our Chicken, he sits atop our mantle and serves a much higher purpose than being a beautiful cookie jar. He is where all of our loose change and bills go every night. In addition, I will put extra cash I receive from riding lessons in him. When I drove carriages in downtown St. Louis I would put my tips into the "Chicken account" - I loved driving the carriages but I just did not have time to spend with my horses and Bear. It did help us through a period when we needed the extra money.

So, what do we do with our Chicken account. Rather than run to the ATM and possibly incur an ATM fee for using one that is not associated with our bank we withdraw from the Chicken account. This is if we really need to run to the store for something and don't have any cash on hand. We just make sure to "re-deposit" what we take out when we have the extra cash. We generally have from $25.00 - $75.00 in bills and change (primarily change). Once the chicken is full we deposit all but $20.00 into our savings account and start over. Our biggest deposit has been $106.73! Now that is over an extended period of time but this Chicken account has really saved us in ATM fees.
So, now you know about our Chicken Account! Do you have a "Petty Cash" fund at your house? If so, how do you put money in and use it?

Tuesday's Thrifty Frugal Tips

This post is connected to Jamie's I am a Money Magnet Thrifty Tip Tuesday series and Lori's Couponomic Stimulas Package Tuesday Tips.


I'm going to tell you a secret - even if you do not own horses - a boarding barn could by your best friend for garden supplies. Here's why:

Feed Sacks - most barns throw them away - see if they will save them for you - please if you do make arrangements to pick up feed sacks - keep your arrangement. You can use these used feed sacks for picking up leaves, grass clippings, trash, lining a pet crate, keep a couple in your car, and for compost!

Composted Manure - Unless they have an agreement for someone to haul it off - see if they will let you pick up some in your truck, 5-gallon buckets, or even used feed sacks.

Dryer lint - what to do with dryer lint - as long as it is cotton material this can be recycled for the birds to line their nests with as it will compost over time. Also, if you brush your dog out the fur you collect is prized by our feathered friends.

Old socks with no matches or holes? Use for dusting furniture.

Old newspapers - use to clean windows or recycle them to your local shelter for their crates - if you have a shredder then shred it for them.

Old medicine bottles lying around? Clean the label off and use them to store extra garden seeds for next year in them - just use a sharpie to write on the bottle or if you still have the packet attach the packet to the bottle if large enough.

Keep a roll of TP in your car for an emergency - I don't know how many times it has saved us when on the road and stop at a rest-stop to find - NO TP!

Save your Tuna cans and small dog cans like Mighty Dog. Clean them really well and then spray paint them a favorite color and then you can attach them to your stall doors to hang your halters, leadropes or bridles.

Do you go to garage sales? Look for coat rack hangers - I found a whole box of brass ones that were really unique - got all 10 for $5.00! Bear is working to make me a nice coat rack w/shelf for the back door. We had some left-over boards that we are going to use to make this shelf -coat rack. He is finishing it and then he will attach the coat hangers to this board and we will hang it by the back door. We got this idea from watching our local PBS station and a tour of old historical houses. I love using something old to make something new! Pick up extra towels as bedding for your dogs or to use for drying your dogs.

One of the best frugal tips if you are eating out - DRINK WATER! It will save you so much money. And if you can get by on a kids meal order a kids meal. One restaurant that we love to eat at (good good fried chicken) let's us order one meal and split it! We eat for just under $10.00 with tax and tip!

Save your change each night when you get home - pop it in a container - we call ours the Chicken account because we drop our change in a cookie jar shaped like a Chicken (rooster actually but I like Chicken account better than Rooster account). We've been able to either save for a short term goal or put in savings.

What tips can you share?

Thrify Tips to Share

This post is for Jamie's Thrifty Tip Tuesday post on her blog at I am a Money Magnet and Lori's Couponomic Stimulas Package Tuesday Tips.

Do you seem to have the best intentions to take your canvas bags to the store only to realize that you have forgotten them once again? Well, here is a trick to remember to put them back in your vehicle. Once you have emptied the bags - roll them up and stick them through the loops of your purse. This way, when you grab your purse you will grab the bags and they will go right back to your car!

Re-use your dog food bags as trash bags - we use our dog food and horse feed bags as trash bags.
We re-use our detergent bottles as boredom breakers for our horses - a little corn in a cleaned out detergent bottle hung in the stall provides entertainment for the horses!

We also use our horse feed bags (which are made of brown Kraft paper) in our garden - I lay them down and then add our manure compost and soil mix on top and then I plant the plants.

I sometimes need to use just a have a can of tomato sauce and so as not to waste the other half, I pour them in an ice-tray and freeze them. Once frozen, I pop them into a plastic freezer bag and then when I need some tomato sauce I pull out enough cubes for what I need.

Having a hard time remembering to take your medicine at the right times? Program your cell phone to remind you! It worked for me!

So, got any Thrifty Tips you can share?